


Stolen Home

by LyraSaber



Series: The Smuggler and the Farmboy [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game), Star Wars: The Old Republic, swtor - Fandom
Genre: Alcohol Mentions, Canon Typical Violence, F/M, First Meeting, Flirting, Ord Mantell, bed sharing, corso's got a crush, first attempt at a fic that runs alongside the canon story, leikael might too, never get between a smuggler and her ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2020-05-28 19:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19400623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyraSaber/pseuds/LyraSaber
Summary: Leikael hasn't set foot on Ord Mantell in well over a decade. Her first visit back and everything falls apart. She just wanted to make some money. She wasn't asking for all of this trouble.





	1. A Return to Ord Mantell

Back to the same kriffing backwater rock that she’d been born on. She didn’t remember much of her time here and what memories she had weren’t exactly pleasant. There’d been some good times in her early years, a lot of them that she couldn’t remember. There was also the disappearing act her mother would pull every time that Jedi would show up, and the teasing from the human children in their village, and the raid by the slavers. That was by far the worst one. Why they’d decided to hit her village she’d never know, but it was the dominate memory attached to this kriffing planet.

It had been so many years since she’d been taken away that her accent was gone, only making an appearance when she was furious, exhausted or very drunk.

She wasn’t terribly worried about the trip though, she’d land, deliver the cargo, get her credits, fuel up and probably be gone before the day was done. She might hit the nearest cantina if the mood struck her before she left. She wasn’t planning on going far or staying long, it was unlikely she’d run into anyone she knew from here or anyone who’d known her. Mirialans weren’t the most populous race on Ord Mantell. As far as she knew, she only had a couple of cousins left and she wasn’t sure if they were even on the planet anymore. A person changes a lot in 16 years. She likely wouldn’t recognize anyone from the old days, even if she were to see them and they certainly wouldn’t recognize her.

The planet was different than she remembered. From the rumors she had heard almost the whole planet was a war zone, some kind of civil war. The kriffing assholes had shot at her ship as soon as she neared the planet. What exactly they were fighting about, she wasn’t sure. She didn’t exactly keep up to date on the politics of Ord. The government was about as corrupt as they came and whether the people had finally just had enough or were being manipulated by some other group for their own purposes, she wouldn’t be here long enough to care.

She eased her shining star down as gently as she could with the speed she’d had to come in at. “sorry, baby, sorry, be good to me and I’ll get you patched up with the very best.” she murmured as she dropped into the hanger and ground to a stop, sparks flying and she knew a few parts had come off. She’d have a lot of making up to do. That was the deal she’d made, she loved her ship with everything she had and took care of her and in return, the Siren took care of Leikael, gave her a home, kept her free and in credits and always warned her before she quit.

She moved over to the door of the ship and leaned down petting her little Manka Lynx. “sorry Tika darling, you can’t come with me this time.” She wasn’t risking her running off here. She picked up her pack and gave her one last pat. “Stay girl." As she shrugged on her pack and stepped off the Siren, she was approached by what appeared to be the only man hanging around the dock, (which was strange for a cargo delivery), a little over a head taller than her, a tattoo covering half his face and an attitude that made her a bit wary. Something about this man was off, and it wasn’t the barely disguised disgust with her race, there was something else. She wasn’t sure what exactly wasn’t on the up, but there was something

The man was clearly trying to act like he thought more of her than he did considering that even someone with no knowledge of starships could tell the Siren had taken some damage. She sauntered over, taking her time and letting her confidence and maybe a bit of arrogance show in her swagger as she approached and he complimented her flying. She was damn good, she knew that, no point in pretend humility. There was an edge to the mans voice that she’d heard in humans before, usually right before some comment on her being an alien in general or her race in particular or their surprise that she could do anything.

She never knew if that was the attitude she was going to get or not, so she always portrayed the arrogant, successful, unstoppable spacer. The cocky attitude sometimes threw people off and made them assume she was exactly what she appeared to be, cocky, confident and competent. She’d prove she was the best later. This man’s patronizing tone told her everything she needed to know about him, he hated her because she was alien and she was better than he could dream of being. "I owe it all to my lightning reflexes and crackerjack timing.“ She followed the man, who introduced himself as Skavak, into the warehouse and accepted the credits for the delivery.

Leikael leaned back against a stack of crates and started counting the credits while she waited for him to get the cargo unloaded. Pounding footsteps drew her attention as a younger man, about her age, burst into the hanger, calling to Skavak. Stars, he was handsome. She’d been around the galaxy a time or two and she liked to think she knew attractive, and this man was. Strong movements that promised layers of muscles, chiseled features accented by faint scars and neatly tied dreads. She stepped away from the crates and over to the two men. “Got a name?” She asked, letting herself flirt just a bit .

* * *

Corso paused at the top of the hill at watched as the incoming freighter twisted and darted through the sky, dodging the separatist fire. Most shuttles that made it to the ground these days were tiny and easy to fly, hard to hit, watching the freighter weave through the sky, pulling off barrel rolls and impressive maneuvering was a sight. He’d seen less skilled smugglers shot down in smaller ships when they weren’t trying anything fancy. “ That must be our captain” he thought, ‘one hell of a pilot’.

He hurried down the hill and toward the hanger, he was supposed to help unload the blasters the captain had brought in and make sure that they were functional. He reached the door to the hanger and paused as he heard a woman speak, “I owe it all to my lightning reflexes and crackerjack timing."

He stared at the woman standing at the base of the freighters ramp. 'The captain’s a woman?’ He hadn’t been told that. She stood there, easily staring down Skavak with a snappy comeback and a disarming smile, the man stood over a head taller and was clearly trying to use his height and generally disagreeable attitude to attempt to intimidate, but the captain wasn’t giving him an inch.

Corso couldn’t help but stare as she walked into the hanger with a measured pace, no…not walked…swaggered. Every movement, every sway of her hips drew his eye, full of attitude, and confidence, fully in command of herself and seemingly everything else around her. He couldn’t look away. She had to be one of the most stunning sights he’d seen.

As Skavak handed her a stack of credits, Corso heard the distinct beep of his comm, he grabbed it, got the message and cursed 'damned separatists’. He jogged into the hanger calling ahead to get Skavak’s attention "We’ve got a big problem. Separatists just took over the local air defense cannon.”

Up close, the captain was even more beautiful, dark brown hair, swept to frame her face and emphasize her glittering, silver eyes, dancing with a playful, mischievous edge, a smile that made his heart leap. A slender figure, with more than a hint of lean muscle, bright green skin, and the tattoos that Mirialans used to track their life accomplishments and families. He’d met more than a few Mirialans during his time in the peace brigade, but not enough to interpret what the tattoos indicated.

Even the scar on her face only seemed to accent her features. He tried to keep his mind focused. He was here to work after all. But he could appreciate her appearance and her attitude. It wasn’t like she’d be here long anyways and there was the damn separatists and the cannon they’d somehow got control of to deal with.

Skavak stepped over near enough they could talk instead of shouting, his tone as condescending as it ever was. There was a reason Corso never liked working with Skavak much. He quickly explained the situation and the fact that they had brought down a republic transport, because that could be a problem for them at some point.

That seemed to have drawn the Captains interest. She glanced over from the pile of crates she’d been leaning on, and that Corso had deliberately not been looking at, he was working, and moved towards them. Her silver eyes sparking and fascinating. She smiled at him and that sweet, playful voice asked “You got a name?”

“Oh, Corso Riggs, ma'am, I’m with Skavak. Nice to meet you.”

She blinked up at him and giggled, a musical sound, “ma'am? well, aren’t you sweet"

Corso blushed a bit, evidently the captain wasn’t used to people being polite, then again spacers tended to be an interesting crowd. He was working, he reminded himself and quickly explained the situation.

Skavak shifted a bit and crossed his arms as he scowled, "That’s bad news, Captain. The separatists will blast you out of the sky if you even think about taking off”

The Captain was going to have to handle the control stations, he and Skavak had other work they had to do. The captain looked more irritated by the second.  
She sighed and shifted on her feet. looking him in the eyes, “I’ll handle it, but if I die, I want to be buried with my ship."

How was he supposed to be respond to that? Requests on burials from pretty women weren’t exactly something he was familiar with. So he said the only thing that he could think to say "Good luck. Hope we see you again.” He really did, he knew he probably wouldn’t but it would be nice.

Skavak started walking away from the little cluster quickly calling over his shoulder “Let’s move, Corso. We’re running out of time.” The captain gave him a terse smile and turned to head out of the hanger towards Drelliad, moving with that swagger. He couldn’t help but watch the swing of her hips as she moved. Corso stood there for a few moments longer than he should have, there was work after all, watching her leave, his eyes fixed a bit lower than he should be looking.

Skavak gripped his shoulder as the captain exited the hanger “Don’t go there kid"

"What?”

“Broads like that captain are always more trouble than they’re worth. Don’t go there. We got work." Corso sighed and followed. Skavak was right in this case, there was work to do. At least he'd waited until the captain left to start calling him kid.


	2. The Theft of Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leikael's trip to Ord Mantell just keeps getting worse and now she's lost her cat too

Leikael ran through the streets of the nearby village, couldn’t remember the name, didn’t really matter. She’d picked up a quick job on her way out of the space port and since she could take care of it while dealing with the separatists, it might help make up for the detour. She moved quickly through the village trying to stay close to the various crates and behind walls. She was always aware of her lack of armor in situations where there were lots of people with blasters around. Finding cover gave her extra protection that usually lasted long enough for her to shoot whoever tried to shoot at her. 

The way to the computer that was being used to control the air defense cannons was surprisingly quick. This whole situation was so frustrating. She’d taken the job ‘cause she needed the money and this damned planet seemed determined to keep her here regardless of what she wanted. 

She reached the computer, but she wasn’t a slicer and the thing just needed to be shut down anyways. As she raised her blaster and fired a single shot just as her comm chimed and her day went from bad to worse. 

Corso stood in the blue glow of the holo, she could hear blaster fire in the background, but he didn’t flinch. The man had seen firefights before, though that wasn’t a surprise considering the state of the planet. Still, impressive calm to go with the good looks, an appealing combination. She wasn’t sure why she found him so interesting, she was usually able to ignore people while she worked. Not that the distraction mattered, her work wasn’t affected and she was going to be gone in minutes. “Hey Captain, you there? It’s Corso. We got trouble back at the hanger.” Great. Just great. This was really bringing down her mood. If those damn separatists hurt her ship, she was going to kill someone. 

“Damn it, Corso! Is my ship alright?” 

“For now- but maybe not much longer.” He dodged what was probably a blaster shot and returned fire. Leikael could hear someone, probably that ass Skavak, yelling in the background. 

“What the hell is going on down there? She said, making sure the computer had shut down, so she could deal with the situation. Force-damn this planet. She hated it, it could never cut her a break. 

“Separatists are busting into the hanger! we’re giving them a warm welcome, but we could use a hand!” She’d been so busy ensuring the computer shut down and moving out toward the street again that she hadn’t noticed what Corso had been up to during their call. He’d moved to another part of the hanger and was calling to Skavak, then the call cut out. Damn it, her ship had better be alright. And hopefully the guy as well, she’d hate to see that pretty face messed up. 

She ran through the streets, ignoring stealth for speed. Luckily for her, the Seps seemed distracted and few bothered her, until she neared the port. She fought her way through and finally managed to make it inside the hanger without too much damage, quickly taking out the few that remained inside. She rolled her shoulders and looked around for Corso or Skavak or more Seps. If fights like this became more frequent, she might actually have to invest in some heavier armor or a portable healing droid or something like that. 

She spotted Corso lying against one of the crates the Seps had been moving toward when she came in. He must have taken a hard hit to the head, but he seemed to come to as she moved over to him. She smiled down at him and reached out a hand, pulling him smoothly to his feet. He leaned against the crate dropping his head into his hand for a moment. “Feels like a gundark used my skull for a drum. Thanks for saving my hide Captain.” 

“Looks like you took a blow, wanna tell me what happened exactly?” Before Corso could answer, the conversation was interrupted by a sound Leikael knew by heart, even if she usually heard it from the bridge, the sound of her Siren lifting into the air. She spun towards her ship and ran, even as she knew she’d never reach it in time to get aboard and stop the take off. She could hear Corso walking up behind her and answering her question. She could hear the restrained fury in his tone and it should have frightened her, the fact that it didn’t was almost distracting, if she wasn’t so outraged at the situation. 

“Skavak helped those separatists get in here. He stabbed us in the back.” 

Of course it was Skavak, she’d known that man was slimy scum from the first second she saw him and she’d still left her ship unlocked with him. “That Scum stole my ship!” If he hurt her baby. Stars! She’d left Tika on the ship! If he hurt her baby or her cat then she’d make damn sure his death was slower and more painful than what she was already planning. She was enraged.

Corso tried to think past the ringing in his head. Damned Skavak sure had given him a good hit. If the Captain hadn’t shown up when she did, he’d have been down permanently. He glanced at the Captain furiously watching her ship fly away, then turned his gaze to the rest of the hanger. “He took all the weapons too. He and the separatists must have been plannin’ this all along!” He finally honed in on the missing weight that had been bothering him. His torchy, his favorite blaster, was gone. “I don’t believe this! Skavak stole my blaster!” 

The man had always been a bit jealous of Torchy, but it was his own fault he didn’t care for a blaster properly. They needed a bit of care to work their best and care was something Skavak had always been lacking. He’d use one ‘til it started complaining about the lack of anythin’ resembling maintenance, then just get another. Corso cursed himself silently, he really should have expected something like this. He couldn’t help, but explain the stats of his blaster to the captain. He was quite proud of that blaster, she was great. 

She glanced over to him again and this time her gaze stuck for a moment. “I’m surprised Skavak didn’t steal the whole hanger.” The rage boiled in every syllable, deepening her voice to a tone that seemed to match her eyes. Her fury had darkened them to a near purple grey, the same shade as the Mantellian skies he’d grown up under. Even through his anger and the frustration he directed at himself for not seeing this coming, he still noticed how incredible it made her look. She was more beautiful in anger then any woman ought to be. 

He dug out his comm and dialed. “He’s not gettin’ away with this!” Nobody stole from him and his boss, and he could probably safely add the Captain to that list, and got away with it. Of course, the banthashit wasn’t answering. “C’mon...c’mon...pick up, blast you!” He was goin’ to kill him when they caught him. 

Finally the sleazy slimeball picked up and was somehow more condescending then ever. “Aw, what’s the matter, Corso? Did I hurt your feelings? Be thankful you’re alive, kid.” His voice had turned cold on that last sentence, he clearly hadn’t expected Corso to survive. He didn’t have any idea what Corso had already survived. A blow to the head wasn’t near enough to kill him.

Skavak turned in the holo as the Captain spoke, her voice determined, angry, and full of energy and danger. “Bring my ship back and I’ll consider forgiving you.”

In that moment, Corso became a firm believer that a smart man would listen to anything she said in that tone, but Skavak was clearly not a smart man. “This rust-bucket handles like a drunken dewback, but I like it. You know the saying finders-keepers.” The man was so damn cocky and completely confident that no one could touch him. He could tell Skavak was just making things worse for himself. “On behalf of Ord Mantell’s glorious freedom fighters, I thank you for your blasters, your ship and a big laugh. Have a nice day.” 

The Captain was quick to snap back at him, but he’d already hung up. “No use, he knows how to make an exit.” He saw the fury start to dissipate as the loss started to set in. Her shoulders dropped and her face took on such a sad expression, he wanted to do something, but didn’t know what he could do. “Skavak stole my favorite blaster, but I guess that doesn’t compare to a whole starship. I feel for you Captain, it’s clear you really cared about that ship.” 

“And my cat” 

“Cat?”

“Yes, the slimy banthashit bastard stole my ship AND my Manka lynx, she was on the ship. She’s the best and he’s not going to care for her properly, Either of them.” 

“Oh, sorry bout your cat too then.” A Manka lynx. Of course the captain had one. That actually didn’t seem too hard to believe, what with the way she’d taken down the separatists in the hanger. It’d been...impressive. “Listen, I work for a guy named Viidu up at Fort Garnik. He’s a good man with connections everywhere. When he hears Skavak is a separatist, he’s goin’ to want revenge. Go to the Fort and talk to him. I guarantee he'll help you get your ship back.” She had perked up and bit and he could see the anger and determination coming back, replacing that lost look she’d had, helping her stand a little straighter and that fire he’d seen in her from the first moment he laid eyes on her was creeping back into her eyes, still the same purple grey they’d turned the moment her ship was stolen. He had the sudden thought that she’d always carry a piece of Ord with her when she finally left, and maybe it would remind her of him. Though, maybe being remembered only when she was angry wasn’t the best way for her to remember him. 

She narrowed those stunning eyes at him, “Fort’s tend to be full of people I prefer to avoid, kid.” 

Of course she did. Independent smugglers rarely did well in places full of soldiers, customs agents and people who followed the letter of the law. Luckily for her, Fort Garnik wasn’t able to maintain such...strict adherence to paperwork and proper regulation of incoming supplies.“Not to worry, the Republic Army runs Fort Garnik, but they let the boss do as he pleases. He keeps their supply lines open. Trust me, if anyone can help you find your ship. It’s him.” 

It also meant that nobody really bothered the people who worked for him much, leavin’ Corso plenty of opportunity to wander the fort and meet others who lived and worked there without issues, but she didn’t need him to explain that to her, she’d figure it out quick. “I have to lock down this hanger, we don’t want a repeat. But I’ll send Viidu a holo so he knows what’s up and meet you and Viidu later. Fort Garnik isn’t too far, not a bad walk if you avoid the snipers and seps on the way. I’ll see ya soon, Captain.”

That managed to get a bit of a smile from her. “I’ll take your word for it. See you soon I guess.” She lifted a hand and headed towards the door, she paused before she got there though “Leikael.”

“Sorry?”

“My name. It’s Leikael” She lifted a hand and walked out the door of the hanger.

his eyes stayed fixed on her walking away ‘til she wandered out of sight. Leikael, The Captain’s name was Leikael, it was beautiful, it suited her perfectly, he thought. A tiny corner of his mind started pulling as though he’d forgotten something, but it was easily brushed away as she finally disappeared from view and he got to work.

As angry as he was at Skavaks betrayal, there was a small part of him that was happy that the Captain was sticking around, just a bit longer. She was one fine woman. 

Leikael couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so angry. She was furious, but she also felt lost. She’d not been trapped on a planet in years. Her ship was her home, the space where she was safe and comfortable and free. It was her life, her livelihood, and her home, now it was gone and in the hands of a slimeball who wouldn’t know how to take care of her and was probably going through all her stuff. She still didn’t own much, but he was probably throwing it all out.

She rounded a group of barricades and nearly ran over a soldier crouched there. She’d been lucky, it was a soldier not a sep and the close call helped pull her attention back to her environment. He’d warned her about the snipers as well. Apparently they were turning this whole damn place into a death trap.

It was really frustrating, she could remember when this planet had been a half decent place to live, at least in her memory it had been. She made her way quickly to the camps outside the fort and started winding her way through. Had her family fled to a place like this? her sister? Her brother? Her mother? The aunts and cousins? Had any of them made it out only to end up living in tents praying that enough supplies would show up for them to eat that day? The only thing she knew was that a couple cousins went into the army, not that she’d seen them or talked to them, or knew where they were. She finally reached the gates of the Fort and headed in,

Wandering through the streets, it was fairly easy to find Viidu’s warehouse, it was right near the center of the Fort and near the cantina. The place was fairly big, the man clearly was doing alright for himself. She could only hope that Corso was right and he’d use some of those resources to help her without expecting too much from her. The man was cute and had a distractingly sweet personality and a pretty nice ass to go with it. She’d trust for now and if things went south, she could always shoot her way out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Any feedback is appreciated, comments and kudos feed the muse


	3. Next Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leikael starts to navigate the planet as she and Viidu try to catch up to Skavak and figure out what to do next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mentions of alcohol

Viidu turned out to be a large man who clearly spent too much time drinking, or he was just really stressed. She supposed that having someone named the Butcher after your head would be enough to stress out most people. Luckily she wasn’t most people. The good thing was that by the time she’d gotten to his warehouse, he’d come up with a plan to get her ship and the load of blasters on it back. He didn’t appear to expect anything from her beyond her doing her job and he’d offered her a drink when she arrived, so far he seemed someone she could work with. She still didn’t trust him though, she rarely trusted anyone. 

He quickly explained that to get to Skavak, they needed information. Of course Viidu had a contact with that information, a man like him would make sure to. And of course, in keeping with this planets habit of ruining her kriffing day every kriffing chance it could, the contact was stuck behind a force-damned blockade. These kriffing separatists just seemed to be making things worse everywhere she looked. 

Viidu had an idea about that as well though. “I’m friendly with the republic commander in charge of the blockade. I can get you in and out of the village.” And here was the catch in the current chain of planning and favors. 

“What’s the cost?” she said, narrowing her eyes a bit, trying not to seem too aggressive or rude, she still needed his help after all. 

Viidu smiled a bit, “You’re sharp, that’s good. You’ll have to earn that free pass by taking out a few separatists to prove your loyalty. You up for that?” A loyalty test, that she could handle. 

“I won’t shoot anybody who doesn’t deserve it, or doesn’t shoot at me first.”

“That won’t be a problem with the separatists.”

“I can handle it.” 

Viidu nodded and went on to explain the rest of the plan and the why’s of the arrangement. Blockades were hard on common people, it didn’t surprise her that the village was starting to starve. She did feel bad for them though, the average Mantellian, outside of the criminal and government classes, was honest, hard working, loyal to a fault, maybe a bit more simple in their beliefs and mindsets than people from Coruscant or Corellia, but this wasn’t some complex city planet full of billions of political mechanics that pulled everyone into the middle of them. These people, well the ones who weren’t smugglers, gangsters, or politicians anyways, had been good people, living simple, honest lives full of hard work and solid Mantellian values and didn’t deserve any of this shitshow they were stuck living in. 

“I’ll pull together a survival kit. You smuggle it to Reki, and he’ll tell you a way to find Skavak. I’m sending you coordinates to his hideout in Talloran and send him a message so he knows you’re coming.” She nodded, smuggling she could do. Go out, earn her pass in and out from the soldiers and get supplies inside the village without them finding out. Not hard, nothing to fancy. Viidu handed her a drink and excused himself to go and do his part, probably also checking on the various parts of this operation he was running, looked pretty big on her way in. 

She moved over to one of the chairs and flopped down on it, kicking her heels up on the edge of the table and let her head fall against the back of the chair. Trying to keep her tears away while also trying to look like there wasn’t a thing in the galaxy bothering her in the least, a relaxed air of nonchalance was better for working than crying her eyes out or flying into a rage. All Leikael wanted to do was curl up, bury her head in her hands and collapse in on herself for a little while, but she couldn’t. Not here. Not ‘til she knew these people better, not ‘til she could do so without losing what little credibility she had with them, and probably not even then. But losing her ship, watching it fly away, it felt like her heart had been ripped away with it. On top of that, now she was stuck feeling lost and alone and the blow to her pride wasn’t a good feeling either. Altogether, it was frustrating and exhausting and she just wanted this day to be over with. But it was absolutely going to get worse. She could feel it. She couldn’t let herself fall apart here though. She’d wait until she was done working for Viidu, she had her ship back and she was safely away from this dustball. For now, she simply tried to enjoy the whiskey and rest a bit before she had to go running around more, it was awfully good whiskey, the man knew his alcohol. 

All too soon, Viidu was back, the survival kit tucked away safely and she was off. Smuggling was something she was good at. Few people looked at her as someone who could be a professional criminal, so she slipped past their notice. For the rest, well she knew she was pretty and had figured out how to charm most people, at least most men, so she could always talk her way around most suspicion. This time though, she didn’t really have to try. Working for the overly pleasant and overly stressed Viidu did have its perks, at least for her, the soldiers barely gave her a second glance after she shot her way through a few separatists, she was even able to gather some medicine for the refugees, (she really should have arranged to get paid for that, damn her too soft heart). They didn’t even seem to care much when she approached the blockade after the skirmishes on one of the few actual beaches in the area, they simply checked who she was and as soon as she said she worked for Viidu, waved her through without anymore questions. 

Meeting Reki though, that was an experience she could do without ever repeating. The man was so slimy, he’d fit right in on Nar Shaddaa. From the first moment she met him, she hated him. The man sat reclining on a bed, surrounded by women with the same hollow expression as the few other residents of the town she’d seen. 

“You’re certainly not a resident here, and you’re no separatist. You must be that hotshot freighter captain Viidu described over the holo. He didn’t tell me how gorgeous you are. I find your people irresistibly charming.” As if all Mirialans were the same, what an oily slimeball. Did he really think that line would work? Ugh. If she didn’t need his information so bad, she’d punch him in the face right then. Not to mention the disgusting way he treated the women who were trapped in this village. She hurried through her dealings, managed to learn the incredibly boring code that he’d used to hide the schematics she needed, because why wouldn’t you hide schematics in a code based around birds, it wasn’t like that was the most boring topic ever, enough to put a girl to sleep in seconds, and called him out on his boorish behavior, before hurrying away. The women deserved better and she’d whispered such to them on her way out, but they probably wouldn’t change anything. She couldn’t worry about it much though. The galaxy was a harsh place, and people suffered and all you could do is tell people your opinion and move on, but maybe they’d kill the guy and take the supplies for themselves, a win for everyone, but the creep. 

It was late in the day, by the time she finished her delivery and made her way out of the hideout, at least she’d managed one successful one on this awful run. Judging from the sky, by the time she made it back to Fort Garnik, there wouldn’t be time to do much else before it got dark. She probably could have traveled the whole island multiple times in a day, if she didn’t have to fight seps every meter. Seriously, this place needed help. As it was, it took hours to get anywhere. She trudged back to the Fort, too tired to bother with much flair. Anyone who wasted their time leveling a blaster at her, got shot themselves as quickly as she could get past them. She trudged through the camp, quickly dropping off the medicine and hurrying back to the warehouse with a wave at the guards.    


As she walked in, Leikael found herself stopped by a young woman with a sweet face and dark hair. It was a bit strange to see another woman here. It had seemed to be a real boys club so far. She said as much to the young woman who introduced herself as Syreena. She seemed to be Viidu’s trophy girlfriend, or maybe just his trophy. Guess he wasn’t quite as great as he seemed, but she seemed ok with the arrangement and just like everywhere else, you found a niche and a way to survive. The galaxy was what it was and if she stuck around, well it wasn’t any of Leikael’s business. There was a shuttle port in the Fort after all, so something kept the girl around and her gut told her that Syreena knew how to use the small blaster she carried. Even so, Syreena was worried, she could tell. 

“Viidu’s putting on a brave face for me, but I can tell he’s terrified. Is it bad? Should I be worried?” Leikael almost smiled, smart woman, getting an outsiders view of a situation before making a judgment. 

“In situations like this, it’s always best to trust your gut. Also I’m handling it and I’m The Best.” That made Syreena laugh. 

That’s good advice, I’ll remember it. It’s good not to be the only woman around for a change. Though, you shouldn’t be late to your appointment, Captain. Viidu is waiting for you, we can talk later. Thank you for indulging me. Farewell, Captain.” She walked away with a friendly nod and started typing away on a datapad. 

Leikael headed up to Viidu’s office and could smell the steak from down the hall. The man was clearly using food and alcohol to cope with his fear of the gangster Rogun the Butcher. It wasn’t like Leikael didn’t know who he was. You didn’t exist in the smuggling world without knowing about one of the kings of the underworld. She just wasn’t scared of the guy, she could outshoot anyone so why waste her time being frightened when there were more important things, like her missing ship, to worry about. The old man was going to eat and drink himself to death, she was sure of it. Where was her poor ship? Was Skavak at least being gentle with her? Probably not, Skavak wouldn’t know how to treat a beauty like her Siren. As she got closer, she could hear a familiar mantellian drawl coming from the office. So the farm boy had made it back after all. She let herself have a genuine smile at that and walked in. 

She was right, she walked into the office to see Viidu and Corso chatting over steaks. Viidu looked over as soon as she entered. Clearly relieved she was back, everything she did increased his chance of survival “Back already, Captain? Help me and Corso finish this roba steak. Don’t let this fine cut of meat go to waste.”

“Boss, quit acting like that’s your last meal. Rogun the Butcher isn’t gonna kill ya.” Well, at least there would be someone who she felt comfortable working with around. She may have had to save his ass at the spaceport, but that was only because of the doublecross. He could hold his own, she could tell. And a familiar face was at least nice, he was clearly a professional, doing his best not to look at her too much. She knew he found her attractive, he wasn’t that good at hiding it. But he was working and focused on that first. It was nice to meet someone who actually used their brain once in a while. 

“Good to see you again, Corso”

“Likewise. Looking forward to working together, Captain.” 

Viidu interrupted their greetings, standing and moving to stand off to the side of the table. “Nice work in Talloran, we’re getting somewhere in this hunt for Skavak. Reki told me he gave you a way into the separatists’ hideout. Said something about a secret entrance?” 

Both her and Corso moved around the table to stand near him as they went over the next stage in their plan to kick Skavak straight to hell and rescue her poor starship. 

“Always wondered how Reki could steal so much from Mannet Point and not get caught.” The undercurrent of amusement was plain, but slightly annoyed her. She brushed it off, Reki was a creep to her, but probably decent around the guys. Normally, she could just brush off the comments, a run like she’d had getting back here would take care of any irritation. The galaxy was full of men like Reki, slimy creeps who thought they were better than they were. You dealt with them and moved on. She was just in a bad mood. She was not going to, could not afford to, let that bother her anymore, not if she wanted to get her baby back. 

She sighed, “Alright, sounds like Mannett Point is the next target. Think that can wait ‘til morning? I know there’s a time factor here, but it’s getting late and storming a Sep fortress after dark, when I’ve been running all day and don’t know the area seems like a particularly stupid idea.”

Viidu sighed as well. “You’re probably right about that. We’ll go over the plan for Mannet Point, first thing tomorrow”

She nodded, a little relieved, she was used to long days and fighting, but not like this. She’d started to feel more than a little tired and her blaster was a bit slower than she’d like the last stretch into the fort. “Well, with that settled, I’ll head to the Cantina, have a few drinks, get a room for the night. I’ll see ya both in the morning.” 

Corso scratched his neck with a bit of a contemplative look. “I think the Cantina might be full up right now, there’ve been a lot of refugees comin’ in last few weeks.”

Viidu nodded, he really needed to ease up on the steaks and the drinking. “Don’t worry about it, Captain, I keep some rooms in the back for my boys. Just take one of the empty ones while you’re here. Take care of it, Corso.” He clapped him on the shoulder and walked out of the office, calling for Syreena. 

She waved at Corso, “I’m out, drinks wait for no woman.” and walked away. She had to get away, out of her own head. She HATED this planet. How had she ever called this place home. Sure, the nature had its charms and she pitied the people who were stuck in this mess, but most of her positive emotions were part of the whole memory barrage, childhood nostalgia, longing for something lost when her life exploded the first time, shit. This planet was awful and seemed determined to make her either hurt or pissed off and irritated every single moment. She quickly reached what was probably the only Cantina in the entire fort and made her way to the bar. Naturally the whole place was full of soldiers. She would talk to people tomorrow. Today she just wanted to be left alone. She was so done with them. She quickly ordered a few shots and another whiskey and moved to one of the rare empty tables back in a corner where she could sit alone. Quickly downing her shots, she let her mind wander, drifting through whatever memories came trying to wind down from the just terrible day. 

She made her way through a few more drinks, getting drunk enough to stop caring. At some point she’d caught the eye of a few of the soldiers and ended up dancing. Not that it was hard for someone to convince her to dance, especially when she was drunk. There was something wonderful about it, it was just fun and she loved fun, anything that let her relax or got the adrenaline going or both. She whirled across the small dance floor skipping from partner to partner. There weren’t many people dancing most of the soldiers were sitting at the bar. Including a Mirialan she’d noticed when she came in, the soldier, a woman about the same age as her, seemed to still be nursing the same drink as when she’d arrived. She spun around back to the woman she was currently dancing with, completely unconcerned about random observations of random soldiers. Eventually though, she managed to regain enough sense to know she needed to stop drinking or risk not remembering things tomorrow and pulled herself together enough to ask about rooms.

Corso had been right, the force-damned Cantina didn’t have any space available. She grumbled her way out of the Cantina and leaned against the wall. Why was there no places to sleep. Streets were bad, no sleeping in the street, bad idea, NO. the warehouse? That was safer. There were probably benches somewhere. They wouldn’t be comfortable, but she’d be out of the way. Fewer people would catch her sleeping. Yeah, that was probably the best idea. She shoved herself up off the wall she was leaning heavily against and stumbled a bit before catching herself and wandering down to the warehouse with only a minimal wobble. She was irrationally proud of that. Sirasa’s lessons were great. 

As she approached, she spotted Corso near the door, probably locking up. He was a focused...security.. Guy person. If she could just keep her thoughts focused and actually remember words properly, things would be much easier, why’d she decide to drink that much again? He looked up as she approached and smiled at her. “Hey there, Captain.” 

She leveled what she hoped was a glare in his direction. They weren’t working now. Of course he chuckled a bit at her expression. “Sorry, Leikael, figured you must have found some space in the Cantina after all.”

She pouted, "No, I even tried my prettiest smile and nothing. Figured I can probably find a bench or something in a corner here somewhere. Better than the street anyways.”

“I think we can do better for ya then a bench.” His voice took on a warmer tone. She had to admit, if only to herself, she really liked his voice, rich and warm, and that familiar accent that made her feel warm and comfortable with just a few words. “I think most of the rooms are full now, but you can take mine.” she’d started to drift off and wasn’t paying much attention to what she was saying. Probably something about how she couldn’t take his bed, she thought he responded with something about how he insisted, and he could sleep on the floor for a few nights, something about camping, honestly she wasn’t sure, she just followed until she tripped on a step and flew forward. Corso was quick, catching her with a laugh before she could hit the ground and holding her while she regained her balance. “Ugh, think i drank more than a bit too much.” She sighed, her accent slipping out, as it usually did when tired or drunk or angry. 

Corso glanced over to her curiously, “ The day you’ve had, makes sense you’d need a break.” They reached the back of the warehouse and Corso guided her to a small room with a bed and a locker, there was also a small workbench shoved in there covered in blaster oil and random spare parts for whatever, she was too tired to tell. Corso gave her a gentle shove towards the bed and started shifting through things in the locker. 

She fell face first on the bed and somehow managed to toe off her boots and drop her pack. Glancing over to see Corso spreading a camping pad in front of the door, creating a barrier between the bed where she was resting and the rest of the warehouse. She should feel worried about that, but somehow, maybe the alcohol, she wasn’t sure, she felt it was more protective. He wasn’t keeping her in, he was keeping anyone who’d hurt her out. The thought made her smile a bit. “You’re nice, Cor. Thank ya.” and with that she passed out. 

  
  


Corso looked at the woman sleeping off the alcohol. She was something else, this Captain, Leikael, capable and beautiful, complicated and mysterious. He was drawn to her, he’d spent a great deal of the time waiting for her to get back from her meeting glancing at the door, eager to see her again and even during the meeting with Viidu, it had been hard to focus on work and not her. He’d managed, but Viidu had noticed and teased him about his interest after she left. He couldn’t help it, Captain Leikael was incredibly interesting. Right now, it was that accent that had his curiosity. He’d noticed it when she had wandered up to the warehouse after spending several hours at the Cantina. He’d been running some final security checks before heading to bed for the night and she’d come stumbling up, clearly thinking she was more steady than she was and talking about sleeping on benches. The accent had been faint, but there, familiar but he had to be hearing things. He’d offered her his bed without a second thought. With all the sep takeovers, the warehouse guys had to move in, it was the warehouse rooms or the camp and Viidu tried to take care of his employees. If that meant giving them a place to stay during the time they were working for him, well that was just good business. But that meant there weren’t any spare rooms, there was a bunk she could take in one of the larger rooms, but he didn’t trust the men there, here at least he could make sure she stayed safe while she slept. He was sleeping in front of the door for a reason. That accent of hers got stronger as he’d helped her walk down stairs and by the time she passed out, it was pretty heavy. Sounded almost Mantellain, but there was no way a woman like her had come from a planet like this. He just didn’t know where, and he wanted to, he wanted to know everything. She was fascinating. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Any feedback is appreciated. Kudos and comments feed the muse  
> I occasionally publish bits of unfinished projects on my tumblr shabrelegacy


	4. Leaps of Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leikael has to somehow infiltrate a Separatist stronghold with a hangover and her day simply gets worse from there. Why can't she just catch a break? She just wants her poor ship back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Natamai is mentioned in this chapter and has her own story 'The Hunt Begins' here's the link if you want to check out that one https://archiveofourown.org/works/19942480/chapters/47220781  
> mentions of alcohol
> 
> I have a tumblr blog where I post pictures and character details among other things at shabre-legacy if you want to check that out

Waking up in the morning was not fun, saying it sucked would be being kind. Her head was pounding and she felt like shit. She rolled over and froze, she was in a bed, it wasn’t her bed on her ship, where was she? She blinked up at the ceiling as she tried to sort through the fog in her head. That’s right, Ord Mantell, Viidu’s warehouse, Corso’s room, she’d come back completely drunk and looking for bench, but Corso either wanted something from her that she wasn’t going to be giving, or he was just that damn nice that he just gave her his bed, and then had slept on the floor between the door and the bed. It seemed sweet, but she’d put money on the former, no one was that nice, he was probably just playing the long game. She’d seen it before. He’d just have to figure out what she’d taught others, she didn’t put out just because people were nice and gave her stuff. She looked around, she’d managed to unbuckle her belt and drop her blasters before she’d collapsed, but had forgotten to grab a blaster to put under the pillow like she normally would. Apparently, Corso had gotten up earlier than she. Her blasters and belt had been neatly placed in clear sight on the workbench and on the small nightstand next to her was a tall cup of water, still cold it looked like. She groaned and sat up, her head still spinning and drained almost the whole cup. She grabbed her blasters and shoved on her boots before stepping out of the room and running straight into an overly cheerful Corso. He was sitting on a bench, just past the door to the room, the angle so that he could see the door, but not inside, eating some sort of something. All she could really smell was Caff. He smiled at her, “Hey, you’re up earlier than I thought you’d be.”

She groaned, A MORNING PERSON. She hated morning people, though mostly when she was hungover. “Not sure I’m alive yet.” 

He laughed at that, “You were pretty wasted when you made it back last night. Speaking of, you probably want to wash up after yesterday's runs. Most of the boys are still out getting Caff, so if you move quick, you should have the ‘fresher to yourself for a few minutes.” 

She had to smile at the prospect of a shower, even if it was a communal one, maybe it would help her feel less sick and make her head hurt less. 

She nodded at him “Thanks.” and dragged herself, her pack feeling like it weighed as much as a bantha, to the ‘fresher. A few minutes later, feeling much more alive, she was pulling up her hair as she heard voices in the main warehouse. Viidu’s boys must be back from breakfast. She moved out of the room quickly and crossed the room, spotting Corso sitting at his workbench, tinkering with something, as she passed. She paused and leaned against the door. Her head had cleared a lot during her shower and as soon as she found some Caff, she’d be good to go. “Hey, I don’t often say this, but thanks... for last night… and this morning, you didn’t have to be nice, so thanks.” 

He half turned to face her, the project of his desk seemed to be some type of disassembled blaster, probably. “Of course, couldn’t let ya just crash on a bench round here. If you’re lookin’ for Caff, the Cantina usually has a few pots out ‘bout this time..” 

Ok, could this kid read her mind? Or maybe he just had enough experience dealing with people with hangovers, didn’t really seem the type to have many of his own, course she still didn’t really know him that well. “You might just be a lifesaver Corso Riggs.” She beamed at him, might as well keep the kid happy while they were working together, a few smiles usually worked on most men and he was nice so it wasn’t even really acting. He was a friendly sort, and sweet, he might actually be one of those few in the galaxy who could be called a good man, a smile was easy enough, and seemed to come far too easily around him, “see ya for the meeting in a bit.” She gave a quick wave and headed out to get Caff. As she walked, she pulled out her datapad. She had a few new messages from various contacts and some members of the old crew, those rogues were family, and one from Natamai. Leikael was a bit concerned, she’d figured Nats would be busy with whatever she was up too. The last message she’d gotten, said Nats had gotten a message from one of her contacts about some kind of job and grabbed a shuttle off Nar Shad. 

She quickly placed her order, got her Caff and found a place to sit, glancing through the short message. _‘Hey Flip, hope that delivery went well. Braden’s dead. I’m working with his kid now, slicer named Mako, seems smart. Got to schmooze a Hutt to get my force-damned sponsorship to the Great Hunt. Also I’m competing in the Great Hunt. That was Braden’s job offer. Chat later, got killing to do. ~ Viper’_ It was kinda adorable how she still used the nicknames they’d gotten when they were first reunited on Nar Shaddaa. Sure, they were stupid ass gang kid names, not even proper gangster/criminal names, but silly teen nicknames, and they had been replaced by the nicknames other crews, other friends, new family, gave them. But they still held that air of dark nostalgia of a time when all they had was each other. She chose to only remember the good parts of that time, nothing worth memorializing had happened anyways, so there was no record, except silly kids nicknames, and a couple scars. 

She sighed and typed out a quick response. She didn’t like that she had to admit that this job had gone so wrong, but at least it’d be fixed soon. ‘ _Hey Vipes, The Great Hunt, really? Sounds big. Heard it’s run by Mandalorians, you should have fun at least. Try and be a bit nice sometimes. Sorry to hear about Braden, he’d be glad you’re looking after his kid though. Delivery went to hell. Kriffing force-damned space ape stole the Siren. Working to get her back, got a plan. Be safe. ~ Flip._

She sent the message quickly and wandered back to Viidu’s office, getting there just as everyone started to stir across the Fort. Syreena had spotted her and told her to just head up and she’d let Viidu know, so she took a moment to reorder her pack and adjust her holsters before reclining a bit. Sure enough, a few minutes later, Viidu and Corso wandered in and the planning began. 

She looked across the table at them as Viidu sat down for another large meal. “Alright, I want to get out there and get this done before it gets too late in the day. We’ve got the basic plan down, any tips on getting into this Separatist fortress?”

Viidu swallowed and stared at her, “Well, getting into Mannett point will be extra tricky. For one thing, you have to swim there.” She raised an eyebrow at that. She could swim still, probably. She’d learned to swim by 4 like most kids on planets like Ord; so that wasn’t a probably, it was more the why was swimming now a requirement? She glanced quizzically between the two men, silently asking for an explanation.

“When the separatists invaded, they blew up the only bridge leading onto the island. Turned it into their private resort.” Well, that seemed like a spectacularly stupid idea. What idiot was leading these guys? They should just shoot that person for incompetence.

“You’ll be walking into the Rancor’s den, captain.” Hadn’t these guys learned by now, she loved a challenge, and she loved showing off. There wasn’t a Sep on this planet who was anywhere near a match for her. 

She couldn’t help but brag a bit. “I’ll do it blindfolded, just for fun.”

Viidu was either a very cautious man, or he didn’t think a woman could handle a job like this. Or maybe it was just her specifically he doubted, no matter which he apparently didn’t feel reassured by her confidence. “Don’t get cocky. That place is crawling with people who’d like to blast that grin off your face. If you download the separatists computer files onto this datapad and bring it back here, we’ll handle the rest.” 

“I’d rather go with you, Captain. My vibroblade’s pretty good for choppin’ separatists off at the knee. I call it “Hewie” So Corso was a fighter after all. And had a real dislike for the Seps, something she could work with easily, though it was annoying that she kept learning things about the handsome and charmingly sweet man with the far too cute country accent. She’d never heard a mantellian accent sound as attractive as it did coming from him. Nope, she shut that thought down quick as well. Distance was her friend and she would keep it so. 

“Forget about the separatists, Corso. I want that slicer kit here before the Captain comes back” Efficent, two would get through Mannet Point faster, but with more notice. Splitting the work and using a single infiltrator. Each task might take a bit longer, but the time saved overall would balance that out. 

“I’m on it, boss. Good luck at Mannett Point, Captain.” Corso nodded to her, and walked out. 

Viidu sighed and shook his head. “Last thing I need is Corso turning ‘one man army’ out there. Kid will just get himself killed for nothing. Separatists wiped out his family a couple of years ago. Corso took it personal.”

So that was the cause of the hate, she could understand that one. Losing your family was almost enough to break a person, sometimes anger was all that’d keep you going. “I don’t blame him for wanting revenge.”

“Mixing personal grudges and business is like dropping a thermal detonator into a fuel dump.” 

Of course, as her life was going these days, she didn’t even get a chance to respond to that one before Syreena walked in with more bad news. 

“Viidu, there’s someone named Rogun calling on the holo. He sounds upset.”

“Oh that’s all I need! Stall him for me, sweetheart. Remember the plan: Disrupt mannett point’s power relays, get inside Reki’s old home and use those schematics to enter the separatist base. When you’re in, slice into the separatist computer and download everything onto my datapad. Good luck.”

She sighed, “don’t worry so much, I got this.”. And spinning around she walked out of the office and jumped off the balcony, because she was bored, mostly. She didn’t like not having her own space. It was making her itchy. She tucked into a roll as she hit the ground and jogged out of the office and through the fort. Another run through this goddamn dustball. The sooner she could get her ship and get off this kriffing planet the better. 

Shadows were tricky things during the day, always changing and unfortunately that meant there weren’t many for her to hide in as she slipped onto the beach and made her way to the edge of the water. Unfortunately there was no good way to get across, nowhere covered enough to redress so she could stay dry. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about cold on top of everything else. She slipped into the water and started making her way across to the island. Swimming was kind of difficult, it’d been years. It was an old, out-of-practice, but remembered skill. Things were easier when she finally slipped ashore. The Seps felt so secure that they’d just left speeders lying around, between them and the usual barricades and crates, there was enough cover as long as she stayed quiet. 

Luckily, for Leikael, being a smuggler meant that she could do damn good work being quiet and hiding. Getting into the fort wasn’t all that hard, but then she realized why. Droids! Kriffing war droids all over the damn place! Damned things were tough to take down with her small pistols and loud as a misfiring swoop bike. Every time she shot one down, she’d have to dive to cover in another spot, because the kriffing droid would draw attention from the kriffing separatists and she just wanted to catch a kriffing break. Didn’t the galaxy care that her ship had been stolen and she just wanted it back. 

It didn’t seem like she was the only one trying to get in here though. She caught sight of what appeared to be a lone republic soldier shooting their way through a few times, but hadn’t managed to get a good look. Eventually she managed to make it to the last power relay and reset the damn thing. Now all she had to do was break into that creeps place, which would be much more satisfying if it wasn’t the exact thing that he’d told her to do. She’d never been a fan of doing what people told her and if she couldn’t avoid men like Reki, she preferred not helping them or screwing them over. She’d met far too many in her travels. They were everywhere in the galaxy, but this was how to get her ship back so there was nothing to be done. Maybe she could shoot some holes in the walls or something. 

She slipped around the corner, quickly firing a few shots, clearing the path to the door and ran inside. Ok, step one done. Now step two get the information to get other information. Ugh, so much work and not even fun work. She started working the code that Reki had explained and it was so much duller than she’d thought, and she’d almost fallen asleep before. She groaned aloud “I became a starship captain so I wouldn’t have to do homework” It wasn’t quite true, but it also was. Flying a starship didn’t require all this dull dull DULL work. What kind of twisted mind actually enjoyed this? 

Quickly falling into her skills, fighting, sneaking, bluffing. Leikael slipped through their base. This part was actually kind of fun. The adrenaline rush was thrilling. She’d fallen in love with thrills and risks years before and this was the kind of challenge that she enjoyed. Get in, get something that people want and get out. Only one person even tried to talk to her and she was able to bluff him easily. She was smooth, when she wanted to be anyways. Getting out was almost as easy, until she got to the outer area just past the damn wall. Of course, in theme with the whole kriffing trip to this rock, some idiot spotted her, decided she didn’t belong and brought in a whole bunch of his buddies to stop her. 

Kael moved quickly, trying to get out before they pinned her down, but she just wasn’t quite fast enough and the beach area she could get to was completely covered. 

She leapt behind another stack of crates, looking around frantically. ‘There has to be another way off this damned island, there has too’. She felt the excruciating burn as one of the Seps got lucky and managed to get past her enough to shoot her. The kriffing shot had grazed her side and slammed into her upper thigh, another one caught her cheek, and a third hit her arm. Damn it all! She was in serious trouble, there were Seps coming from every direction it seemed. ‘There’s nothing for it then, it’s this or death and I am NOT dying here!’ She took two breaths and summoning what strength she had left, ran at the bridge, firing the whole way, creating a hole she could run through. Her arms spun through the air and she fell into the dark water, disappearing below its surface and vanished from view. 

Several hours later, the sun was starting to hang lower in the sky and the clouds promised rain as Leikael dragged herself to the gates of Fort Garnik. She was injured, bleeding (if slower than she had been), covered in mud and completely exhausted. As she tried to head inside, she was stopped. ‘I’m too tired to deal with this’. The guards at the gate were different from before and she hadn’t interacted with them before. They tried to direct her into the Refugee camp and simply refused to listen when she tried to tell them she was working for Viidu, which had gotten her access with no questions before. She must look worse than she thought, but she was too frustrated with these rookies to try and explain shit. They just kept telling her that refugees weren’t allowed in unless there was an emergency and she needed to stay in the camp. She got more frustrated and so did they, until she was shouting. “Don’t believe me then just call and ask him, or his security guy Riggs!” She probably threw in a large number of expletives and probably insulted them too, but she wasn’t paying attention anymore. Her cheek was burning and the throbbing in her side and her leg were now impossible to ignore. She was having trouble standing because of it and honestly just wanted to crawl back to her ship and it’s cozy, comfortable, safe, rooms. 

Corso was busy in the warehouse when his Holo chimed. He’d gotten the slicer kit, and then went about the rest of his work while waiting for the Captain to get back from Mannett Point. He was starting to worry more than a little at this point. She should have been back hours ago, she’d left early in the morning, and it was now late afternoon. He knew Viidu was worried too, if only for what they were gonna do if they couldn’t get those blasters to Rogun before he wore out his patience. He shoulda gone with her, what had Viidu been thinking, sending her in alone, and why in siths hells had he gone along with it? Sure, Viidu was his boss, and the Captain, Leikael, she’d wanted him to call her Leikael, was more than capable, but still. She was one person, with small blasters, and blast it, the woman was small. He had no idea how she’d be able to handle a situation if her blasters failed on her. 

He shook his head and turned back to his work. There was always something to do here, it kept him busy and usually focused, but today, he just couldn’t pay much attention. When he wasn’t imagining how he’d pay Skavak back for stealing his favorite blaster and stabbing him in the back, he was worrying about Leikael. When his thoughts weren’t occupied with one of those, well they weren’t the most proper of thoughts. He’d woken up early this morning and when he’d gotten up, he’d ended up taking a moment to just look. Leikael had rolled under the blankets at some point and he couldn’t stop staring at the incredible woman fast asleep in his bed. She’d looked comfortable and peaceful, her dark hair had worked it’s way out of it’s restraints and fanned across the pillow. He’d picked up her blasters and placed them on the work bench with his own when he’d been spreading the camping pad out the night before. With it rolled up and tucked away again, well, if he’d not been aware of the events of last night, the situation might have looked very different. He couldn’t help the slight thrill he felt at the sight before him. He’d quickly squashed it though, he’d been raised better than that. But the sight continued to pull his attention in a rather inappropriate direction the rest of the day. Nope. He wasn’t going there. She was someone he was working with and he would respect that professional relationship regardless of what his treacherous brain might have to say about it. 

He pulled out the Holo and answered it. It was one of the newer soldiers in the fort. He’d met him in the Cantina a couple weeks before. People got to know each other in a fort like this, or at least recognize those who were here frequently. The soldier apparently was dealing with some situation down at the gate. “We’re not sure if she’s a Sep or a Refugee or what, claims she works for your boss. Could you come down to the gate for an ID.” It wasn’t a completely uncommon request. Every now and then, someone would show up claiming they were working for the boss and he’d have to go down and verify that he’d never seen them before and they weren’t on the payroll. He was hoping that this time it’d be Leikael returning and that she hadn’t died on that island. 

His hope turned out correct as he approached the Fort wall and saw her standing there blocked by three guards. She was swaying and seemed to be avoiding putting weight on one leg. She was soaked, covered in blood and mud, with torn clothes and he could see at least 2 blaster wounds from where he was, there were probably more hidden, she really didn’t look in good shape, but she was alive, that was what was important. Everything else could heal. He quickly stepped over. “Hey there, Captain, looks like ya made it back in one piece.” He looked over to the soldier who’d called him “She’s with us.” They nodded and stepped aside as Leikael started limping forwards. Corso stepped forward, she must be more injured then he’d thought. He reached over and helped take some of her weight. “Let’s get you to the medcenter. Things must have gotten rough.” 

She laughed quietly, but there was a strained, hollow quality to it. “Ya, well, that drop from the bridge didn’t do me any favors either.”

Corso looked down at her a little shocked, “Ya jumped off the bridge?”

“It was that or the kriffing beachfront shooting gallery.”

He sighed, “ Guess that’d be the better option then, shoulda gone with ya though.” 

This got an actual smile out of her. “Didn’t need backup, got out alive and that’s good enough.” They reached the medcenter and by this point, Corso was practically carrying her, she seemed to be having a lot of trouble walking. He left her in the care of the med droid and promised to let Viidu know she was back and if she needed help getting back to the warehouse, he was just a call away. He moved quickly back to the warehouse, the boss would want to know that Leikael was back and he still had a few things to take care of before he was done for the day. Best to get them out of the way, seemed like things were getting even more unpredictable then they’d been before she’d shown up. At least he wouldn’t be getting bored soon. 

Leikael laid back on the bed in the medbay as the med droids fussed at her. A few doses of kolto and some bandages and she was almost good to go. The cut on her face wouldn’t even scar, which was nice, she already had one prominent scar there, another one probably would make it worse. The only one causing real trouble was the thigh wound, but she had a pressure bandage on and it wasn’t deep. Another few minutes for the kolto to finish sealing the wound and she’d be good to walk, by morning she’d probably be able to run, it’d hurt, but that was what pain hypos and stims were for. She sighed and tried to relax, but even as tired as she was, she still hated med centers and wasn’t really made to sit still. She could really only relax on her baby, and the Siren was no closer to being found then she was yesterday. At least, she wasn’t stuck there much longer and as soon as she was given the all clear, she was allowed to change out of her ruined clothes. She didn’t have many clean clothes left. She hadn’t packed for a long stay. She limped carefully to the warehouse and tried to mask her limp as much as she could, nobody else needed to know she was injured. She thought she managed it fairly well and was nearly back to her cocky, sarcastic self by the time she arrived. 

Though, she figured out real quick when she arrived that the warehouse workers here were just as boorish as anywhere else. Some of them had cornered Syreena and clearly weren’t backing off. She rolled her eyes, of course they had to do this while she still needed Viidu’s help so she couldn’t just shoot them. But breaking a nose or two, she could probably get away with that, but they needed to move away from Syreena first. She was quick though, so she wandered over and leaned against a crate, making sure Syreena saw her, and as soon as the man speaking to her ‘Brocko’ or something stupid, noticed her, she spun a quick tale about Rogun. She’d been around enough to know how things worked when a gangster took over somebody’s operations. To the victors go the spoils and unfortunately in the underworld that included everything and everyone involved in any operation. Of course, her little tale sounded just enough like truth that they stepped back and started moving away. She stepped in front of Brocko as he moved beyond an arms reach of Syreena. “Listen up, space ape, you go after her again and it won’t be Rogun or Viidu you’ll be running from.” She punctuated her statement with a fast, hard punch to the face. He stumbled back into one of his buddies and when another moved toward her, she took him down with a well aimed kick. She stepped past them and took Syreena’s arm, leading her away as she called over her shoulder. “Let that be a lesson, you’re lucky I didn’t feel like shooting you today.” They moved over to the stairs and Leikael took a moment to make sure that Syreena was ok, they chatted for a moment and she sent the girl ahead of her while she watched the guys limp away, sending angry glares back at her. She returned them with her best self satisfied smirk and when they vanished from sight, deeper into the warehouse, she turned and headed upstairs herself. 

The meeting went pretty quick, with Viidu clearly relieved to see her after how long she’d been gone. She handed over the data so his people could start going through it and he said he had a plan for the next day when she was healed up. She’d smiled and agreed to meet first thing in the morning and tanked Corso for his help. A few minutes later, she was heading to the Cantina for a meal and a drink. Her leg was still throbbing, if not nearly as bad and she’d need something to help her relax, even as tired as she was, there was something about almost dying that left her wired. Well that and not having her own space. 

Of course she didn’t have the energy for dancing that night, so she just sat at the cantina bar and tried to ignore the pain from the various injuries. Jumping off that bridge was turning into a worse idea by the hours and she couldn’t afford to take more pain hypos right then since she needed to save them for the next day. The bartender and waitress were different then they’d been the previous night, but that was expected, probably too many people for what jobs were available. After an hour or two, she’s feeling pretty good and started to consider heading back when the bartender made his way over and started talking. They chatted for a couple minutes before he asked her name, but as soon as she said it, his face changed, becoming more somber. “Shabre eh? Any relation to Tov, Zesr and Nodeu Shabre?” 

She had to admit, she was surprised to hear her cousins names. She hadn’t spoken to them since she was 6 and honestly thought they were off planet. Figured any survivors would have left quick after the war ended. “Yeah, my cousins, haven't talked in years though, why?” 

If he could look more serious, he would have. “You haven’t heard then? Sorry to break the bad news to ya, but they were hit by Seps last week. They were holding the siege on Talloran when Seps hit their units. All three went down in the fight.” 

She blinked slowly. Her mind racing to try and catch up. Sure, for the longest time, Nats had been her only family. They had no contact with the rest of the family and by the time they could, they didn’t know how anymore. But still, it… it hurt. She’d thought she was past this. No family left but Nats, everyone but the cousins dead and the cousins so distant at that point, they might have well been strangers, but now they were gone and she’d never got to tell them she was alive, or that she was free, or that she had a ship. She’d never even gotten to say goodbye to them. She was now truly alone. No blood left but Nats. Her cousins were gone. She swallowed hard, feeling the tears she’d held back the last few days threatening the corners of her eyes with this new wave of tears that wanted to flow. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and tried to compose herself. “Thank...thank you for telling me” Her head suddenly felt too heavy and fell forward to rest her forehead in her hand. “Damn it. Kriffing Seperatists… Kriffing stupid planet. Force-Damn it.”

The bar-tender clearly had experience with people processing the loss of family. There were too many lost on the once peaceful, mostly farming world. He simply patted her shoulder and poured her another drink. She stared at it for a moment before downing the whole thing. She ended up sitting at the bar for another couple hours, many of those around her had heard the conversation and she’d had more than a few of them send her sympathy drinks. Eventually, she just had enough of people and just wanted to get away. She took a breath and forced herself to her feet and dragged herself back to the warehouse, maybe Corso would let her crash on that camping kit, she wasn’t going to just assume he’d give her the bed again. Of course, the man was.... Was something… couldn’t think what. He’d just seen her, smiled, shook his head at her getting drunk again and simply reminded her to put her blasters up before insisting she take the bed and rolling the camping pads out in front of the door again. Once again, making sure she was safe without her asking him to or even seeming to expect something for it. She couldn’t figure him out. Ugh, no more thinking for her, thinking hurt too much. Everything hurt too much today. She lay in the dark and tried to sleep, but sleep just wouldn’t come. 

Eventually, she couldn’t hold back the tears anymore and they started leaking out. No matter how tightly she squeezed her eyes, she couldn’t stop them. She hadn’t cried in ages, but everything all together was just too much. Her shoulders started to shake and quiet sobs choked out, barely audible, but still loud enough to hear in the dead stillness of night. She heard rustling and the bed dipped as someone sat down and a hand gently rested on her shoulder. “Hey, hey, shhh, what’s wrong?” Corso said, softly and a bit awkwardly, gently rubbing her shoulder. Of course, she’d woken him, but she just couldn’t give a damn just then. She couldn’t care much about anything. “What happened tonight?” 

She forced herself to sit up and leaned back against the wall. He was very close to her in the small bed and hadn’t put a shirt on when he’d gotten up. In any other situation, she might have noticed more, but she just hurt too much. She felt so lost and alone and scared and honestly gutted with everything over the last few days. “Sorry, stress and alcohol make me weepy, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“I know. Are you gonna be ok? You’ve been up to a lot last couple days” 

“Yeah, I just almost died today, and I make a point to avoid that and I couldn’t and it hurt pretty bad, and my ship is my home, its...it’s everything and now she’s gone and I don’t know if I’ll manage to get her back, and I don’t like being here, I really hate this planet, and if all that wasn’t enough, I just found out that the last of my cousins were killed last week and I didn’t know and I never got to....” She choked off as a fresh round of tears overwhelmed her.

She felt the bed shift and an arm wrapped around her shoulders. “That’s hard, I know what it’s like to lose family. You learn to live eventually, but that doesn’t make it hurt less.” Maybe it was the alcohol, no, she was absolutely going to blame everything on the alcohol. But those words, soft and quiet and heartfelt, they let her finally break and she sobbed. Turning into him and wrapping her arms around his chest as she finally broke down and cried out all the pain she’d been carrying, her family, her ship, almost dying, how alone she felt, everything poured out as tears streamed down her cheeks and she shook in his arms. He didn’t say anything else, just quietly held her as she sobbed. At some point they shifted, so they were more comfortable, as the tears just kept flowing. Eventually, the tears stopped at they both drifted off, neither was really aware of when that happened. The night and Leikael’s tears creating a heavy blanket of quiet surrounding them in that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I appreciate any and all feedback. Comments and Kudos feed the muse. Thank you so much for reading


	5. Awkward Mornings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leikael wakes up and has to deal with her bad decisions and her loss, or more accurately completely ignore them and do her job instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, it's been like a month since I updated. So sorry. Honestly though, I'm dealing with personal stuff, work and study, and am working on 3 stories simultaneously. I also sometimes take time to do other projects or for myself. But I'm back and I should have another update in the next week or two. One more chapter and we're off Ord Mantell. It should be good.

Laughter rings through the air and she looks up to see two little girls with her face standing on a log above her. They reached down and she grabs their hands and scramble up the log. They start running along the log, arms spread to stay balanced, laughing in the sunlight. A group of other kids run nearby playing laughing and yelling in a game of tag. Near the end of the log a boy maybe a year older, 6 or so stands arguing with a few friends over another game. The houses of a small village stand nearby and a few adults sit in the field talking as the children run around them. A warm wind rushes across a pale greyish purple sky rustling the grass and bring the smell of the oceans. She shushes her sisters as they approach, attempting to be sneaky but failing, leaping off the log and all three tackling their brother at the same time, falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs and laughter. 

The sunlight was gone. The only light here was the harsh overhead lights of a commander's office. She hid in the corner shaking. Please don’t let him find me, not today. I’ve been good and done all my work. Please be busy today. A shadow falls across and she looks up into the Moffs stern, twisted face. “Come now, it’s time for your lessons.” he says, a cruel inflection in his words. She whimpers, she doesn’t want to. “Don’t make me wait, I’ll get angry and you don’t want to make me angry, do you? You don’t have a choice here.” She nearly cries and forces herself to stand, he’ll just hurt her worse if she doesn’t do as she’s told. He places his hand on her neck as they walk out of the office, towards the private rooms in the back, his hand resting just over the collar. An unspoken reminder of her place here, and his position and the pain that a single button could inflict. 

She’s running down a street she’s never seen before. How did she end up here? Wasn’t she just in the Moff’s office? Anywhere was better than there, so why did she feel so scared? 3 figures appeared in front of her small, all somewhere between 8-11, just a bit older than her. Wait, that wasn’t right, hadn’t she just been 12? Where was she? Where had the figures come from? It didn’t matter, it was her cousins, they’d found her, they’d come for her. She could go home now. She ran towards them as fast as her little legs could carry her. Another shape stepped out of the shadows of a nearby building, the shadows crawling with them. She couldn’t make out who, all she could see was the blaster as it was raised and fired 3. Quick. Shots. Her cousins all fell, she ran or tried to. She couldn’t reach them. She moved as fast as she could and it just wasn’t fast enough, she kept running, but she just couldn’t seem to reach them. 

They were gone now and the street smelled terrible. The lights in the distance were painfully bright and annoying in their colors. But it didn’t bother her, there was a freedom here. She was free. She’d escaped. Her cousins hadn’t but she made it out. It was enough. She was hurt and she was scared and she didn’t know what was going on but she was on Mek-Sha and that meant she’d gotten away, away from what? What was she running from? Why was she concerned about her cousins? Why did their thoughts hurt? She felt a warmth wrap around her. She’d been feeling it in the background chasing her, now it wrapped around her like a blanket, she’d thought it would burn but it didn’t. She felt fear and worry and comfort all at once and…

Leikael’s eyes snapped open and she tensed slightly as her brain pulled from the dream and she started processing where she was. She was curled up against a broad chest, an arm around her waist holding her and one under her head. Who? Her thoughts were fuzzy, the headache making it hard to think. Corso. That’s right, she’d gone drinking again and woken Corso up with her crying. Instead of being angry with her and kicking her out of the room so he could sleep, he’d come over and sat next to her and listened to her and when she started to cry from the pain and the fear and the loss of the last few days, he’d simply held her and let her grieve. They must have fallen asleep at some point and since the bed was small and he’d already been holding her, they must have just curled to each other as they slept.

This was going to be awkward, but he was still asleep, so if she could just get up without waking him, then it would be less awkward. If only her head and everything else would stop hurting. He shifted a bit and her attention was pulled back to the situation. She’d fallen asleep in just her light tanktop she’d been wearing under the rest of her gear and he’d neglected to put a shirt on when he’d woken up the night before. If anyone were to see them… Well, this was a fairly compromising situation and she felt a stab of fear, just a remnant of old hurts, but they stuck around. 

A part of her didn’t want to move, but another part of her was screaming to get away. She gently and quietly slipped out from his arms and grabbed her pack. She pulled out a pain hypo and stabbed it into her leg before grabbing the clothes she’d changed into the day before, after the med center and dragged herself, still feeling like she’d been run over by a whole swoop bike gang, into the ‘fresher for a quick shower. It was early enough that she only saw a couple of Viidu’s boys around. They glared at her, but kept their distance, must be friends of the guys she’d beat last night. She stepped into the shower, and as the hot water hit her bruised and tense muscles she started to feel better. Today was the day, she wasn’t going to let any negativity or anything affect her. She was getting her ship back today and was just going to ignore everything including her gut feeling that it was going to take longer than she thought to get it back. She dressed quickly and brushed her hair back into shape before heading out to start what she could already tell was going to be a busy and painful (if the dull throbbing from her thigh was any indication) day.

* * *

Corso woke up early and with a bit of panic, his arm had no feeling left and it almost worried him until he felt warm breaths on his chest. That’s right, Leikael had started crying last night after finding out her family was dead. He didn’t know if she had other family, but the way she spoke seemed to indicate that she didn’t. He couldn’t just let her cry, he knew that pain all too well, so he’d gotten up quickly to help comfort her and at some point they’d fallen asleep. He watched her sleep for just a moment. She looked so peaceful, like most of the stress had melted away. She’d been tense when he’d woken up, like something scared her, but she was more relaxed now.

Somehow, in their sleep, he’d wrapped an arm around her waist and she’d curled into him. Almost like she belonged there, and that was a thought that he dismissed as quickly as it occurred to him. He was very aware of their position and states of undress, if his mother could see him now, she’d probably smack him upside the head and give him a stern lecture on how he was not raised to behave this way, but he still didn’t want to move yet. She was beautiful and he just wanted to watch her for a few more minutes. He shouldn’t though, This was going to be so awkward when she woke up, he had no clue how she was going to react and because of where he was, it wouldn’t be easy to get out without waking her.

He hadn’t really moved since he woke up, not wanting to wake the sleeping woman in his arms, still curled in bed where in the darkness it could be safely assumed he was still asleep. A soft sound near the door drew his attention and he looked up to see Brocko and one of his friends crossing in front of the room and pausing to stare in side, faces twisting in anger, noticeable even in the shadows. If he could see better, they’d probably have black eyes and broken noses. He’d seen the aftermath of the beating Leikael gave them. Even injured, and only using her fists, the small woman was a force. He’d also kept an eye on Syreena until she left for the night, just in case. Too many of the men here had no respect, or maybe he was just old fashioned. But he’d been raised a certain way, and he’d make his mom proud or at least try to. 

Brocko looked down at the camping mat and then over to the bed and stepped in, Corso tightened his arm around her and partially sat up, just enough to be seen, but not enough to disturb, locking eyes with him and glaring. The man stepped back and moved on. They’d probably spread gossip through the warehouse today. None of it would be correct, but if it kept them away from her then he didn’t really care. He settled back into the bed and closed his eyes. Her breath warm on his bare skin and she made the cutest little snuffling sounds as he settled back against her and she tucked herself back against his chest. One of her arms drifting over his chest in her sleep as he held her. He realized as he drifted into a comfortable, sleepy haze, that he wanted to have every opportunity to do this again. He hadn’t felt like this in years, the last time felt like a lifetime ago. Maybe, maybe he’d be able to convince her to take him with her when she left. Even if she decided she didn’t want anything more with him than a hired gun, he’d be there to watch her back and it’d be a way off this rock and all the history here. He’d get back among the stars. For now though, he’d just doze for awhile, pretend to be asleep, enjoy the brief time of peace with this fascinating woman who could shoot like a dream and survive the mess out there without losing her fire and he’d just let her decide how to handle the situation with the least awkwardness when she woke. He fell into a light sleep, thoughts of stars and starships and beautifully intriguing ship captains circling his mind; only waking when the warmth at his side slipped away. 

* * *

Leikael made her way back to the warehouse, a big mug of Caff and a bit of food later. She still hurt from yesterday, but she could handle it and that was the important thing. She should probably send a message to Cradu, she knew he worried, but if she did then he’d probably reroute the entire crew to help and she did not need to deal with their fussing on top of everything else. Maybe, maybe a note to Nuri, yeah, that would work, she was like a sister to her and she understood the need Kael had to do things herself. She never wanted to carry a record of failures and bailouts for others to see. She paused and quickly typed out a short message lining the situation and assuring Nuri that she had a plan. She’d probably tell everyone else, but hopefully having Nuri tell them instead of going straight to Cradu or Korgran would convince them it wasn’t serious and keep them from interfering and fussing. She seriously missed them. Maybe she’d swing by Mek-Sha or Nar Shaddaa and see them sometime when they were both near one of those ports.

She walked into Viidu’s office where he and Corso were already up and waiting for her. After a brief hello and inquiries to her health, they got to business. That was good, she could barely bring herself to look at Corso. He must have lost any respect she may have earned with him after that. What kind of woman bawls her eyes out on a stranger and then falls asleep on them especially in such a way that they can’t easily leave the bed? That was a mistake she wouldn’t be making again. The loss of her cousins still burned, but she had to work now. Working was essential to staying afloat after everything, distractions were good.

“So,” she starts, “that visit to the medcenter threw off our timeline, but I’m back in the game now, so what’s our next step?” 

Viidu seemed as worried as he’d been since he arrived. “You can’t work if you can’t walk. It was a necessary delay. My people have been working on that data you recovered so we’ll know where to find Skavak soon. Until then though, I have a special job that only you can do.”

She sighed, buttering her up, that was never a good sign, but she wasn’t about to sit around. “Until I get my ship back, My schedules pretty open.”

“I have an exciting opportunity for us to all stay alive.” Shit! A sales pitch. This was going to be bad. She crossed her arms and shifted, waiting to hear just how risky this was going to be and what kind of risk. 

Before he could finish explaining though, Corso interrupted him. Apparently it was risky, but not the ‘might have to jump off the damn bridge again’ risky, so it’d probably be fun. “ ‘The Big Boom Run’? Are you kidding, boss? I can see it making Rogun’s day, but it’s blasted risky.” 

Didn’t matter to her, who gave a damn about risks “All I care about is finding Skavak and getting back what’s mine.” No one stole from her. She could feel the traces of yesterday's fears melting away in the face of the run in front of her. 

Viidu clearly thought she wasn’t thinking things through enough, but he didn’t say so. He just went on to explain the job. Getting chemicals to supercharge artillery cannons made by a ‘loopy’ scientist, and highly unstable. Corso’s exact words were “less stable than a drunk savrip on a speeder bike.” Which she’d ended up giggling at. It was an amusing turn of phrase. He’d been quick to explain the risk level with the job, which was appreciated. Always nice to know exactly how dangerous something could be, even if she was going to do it anyways. Moving highly unstable chemicals across a war zone without them exploding, that would be fun, highly dangerous and likely to end in her death and probably not something she should repeat but hey sounded like more fun than anything else she’d been up too. It was smuggling and she was damn good at that, she might also love it, which would be a problem if she bothered to think about it too much. Actually no, it wouldn’t be, it wasn’t wrong to love your job. She was a criminal and a damn good one and she was ok with that. The galaxy needed troublemakers, they kept things moving. 

And of course Viidu sweetened the deal, adding the magic words “pays unbelievably well”. She had to smile at that, they were finally speaking the same language. She was heading to Oradam Village. It’d keep her busy while Viidu worked on his end, then the sale to Rogun would buy them some time to get the ship back and finish the delivery, and all this could be left in the dust, just one more set of memories abandoned on this rock. 

* * *

Corso asked to talk with her before she went on the run, so she finished up the details of the job with Viidu. She’d get this done as quick as possible and then her ship was as good as hers. She really hoped that Corso didn’t want to talk about this morning. She didn’t want to talk about it, especially when she wasn’t sure how she felt about, he’d just been being nice or he wanted what he wasn’t getting. Either way, didn’t matter. He was waiting at what she guessed was his desk as she walked up. ‘Hopefully this goes quick, don’t want to wait around anymore’. The kid still seemed as concerned as he’d been in Viidu’s office. She would forgive him for that. He didn’t know how good she truly was and he had seen her pretty beat up after the bridge jump yesterday.

He jumped right into what was on his mind as soon as she stopped near him. She could appreciate directness. “Captain, the Big Boom Run isn’t a stroll on the beach. You’ll need an edge to make it back alive.” she shifted, rocking back on her heels slightly, waiting to see where he was going with this. He reached down to the desk and picked up the blaster that had been sitting there and explained it. He seemed extremely familiar with this weapon, no hesitation or struggling to remember some trait. He’d even named the thing, ‘Flashy’, Kael wasn’t sure what kind of name that was for a blaster, but wasn’t any of her business. He seemed to name all his weapons. The vibroblade that she hadn’t been paying attention to, the Torchy that had been stolen, he probably had names for any other weapons he owned. She couldn’t decide how she felt about that. It was weird, in some men she might have called it strange or creepy or possibly even crazy, but here she was leaning more towards weird but possibly endearing. “Flashy’s the first blaster I ever owned. I want you to have it.” He handed the blaster over to her.

Kael looked down at it for a second then glanced up with narrowed eyes. “Don’t expect anything in return. I’m not that kind of woman.” She wasn’t going to bend her rules just because some guy thought giving her a blaster would win her over.

To her surprise, Corso just looked at her, something almost like surprise and maybe pity in his gaze, she wasn’t sure, maybe she was reading him wrong, they didn’t know each other after all, and she’d been in a mood for days. “ I don’t know what sort of men you’re used to, but I was raised a gentleman.” Seriously, was he really saying that he was just this nice? Maybe, it was possible, she supposed. She could vaguely remember one of her uncles lecturing her brother about ‘the proper way to treat ladies’ when he’d let a door hit one of their sisters in the face as they went through it. So it could be a thing. But there were so many scumbags in the galaxy, and this place was no exception, so she was cautious, she wasn’t going to let down all her guards, but it was an awful nice blaster. She could tell just by holding it, Kael couldn’t wait to see it in action. 

She tucked it into her belt and rocked back just a bit to look at him with a small sly smile, nothing wrong with a bit of charm in this mess. Letting herself relax just a hair, she allowed her natural accent to seep into her voice, “Seems like you’re getting sweet on me, farm boy.”

There was a confidence to him, the way he met her gaze, not forceful, but not hiding either. It was intriguing. “Never met a lady like you, Leikael. Got a vested interest in keeping you spry and lively.” 

She smiled at him “stay sweet Corso” she gave him her brightest smile. She was good at flirting and charming when she wanted to be. With any luck she’d be gone by the end of the day and flirting was fun.

* * *

She wasn’t far outside the gates when she got the chance to give flashy a test run. She drew the blaster, paired with one of her smaller ones and fired at the idiots dumb enough to try and shoot at her. It fired solid and powerful and the idiot fell. She looked at it and laughed, damned if it wasn’t one of the best blasters she’d ever used and she loved it already. The draw was just as quick as Corso had said. Ok, major points in his favor here. She loved a man who knew his blasters and this one was damn near perfect. He’d been able to read her and give her just what she’d needed, this could get deep fast if she let it. 

The run wasn’t actually as tough or exciting as she thought it would be. It was a quick one too. Only a couple hours, she’d gotten a particularly early start, but even with the nightmares she still felt pretty well rested, maybe it was the alcohol, or it was Corso, she wasn’t sure, but she’d woken up and aside from the headache from her stupid hangover and the throbbing in her injured leg, she’d felt pretty good. She was able to move pretty quickly across the island. The first part of her trip wasn’t as pleasant as she might have wished though. She had to slog through a damned minefield, help an engineer get her tools and do some repairs so the fort didn’t blow up and shoot her way through way too many scavengers and separatists. It was pretty fun when she first set out, a nice adrenaline rush, but that wore off as they just kept showing up. 

She was still able to move quickly through the early morning light and managed to make it to the village only to be told that she had to run out to a beach and find a fishing camp out among the scavengers, because of course someone goes fishing for dinner right after dawn, because that made sense. At least, she had a nice chat with Trimbo’s wife and some Trandishoni flatcakes before heading out again. She was quite a good cook and the small rest was enough. Of course, nothing that Viidu had said could have prepared her for how odd Trymbo actually was. Captain crazy was an understatement. He was pretty funny though. With his weird comments and complete disconnect from reality. She was lucky that he was lucid enough to remember where he’d stored the chemicals she was after. 

Of course, the trip back was fun, life and death every single second, but fun. Trying to run and shoot and get through the freaking war zone which was this damned rock while carrying a bunch of chemicals that could explode if they were jostled just a hair bit too much, that was a rush, a terrifying, exhilarating rush. This was the shit she lived for. The moments when everything could go wrong and it was you and your skills against all odds. Of course, she usually preferred less explosive chemicals and more starships, but it was still the best time she’d had since she’d stepped foot on the planet.

She reached the fort and made it to the gates in good time. It was only late morning when she got back, chemicals safely tucked away and Viidu namedropped to the guards at the gate to slip through without them searching her bag. She wasn’t completely certain, but it was a pretty reliable guess that even as lax as the fort was with their supply lines sources, they still wouldn’t allow random chemicals with no paperwork into the fort. Soldiers were all about the paperwork. As she passed into the fort she could see a group of soldiers leaving pretty quickly. They seemed to be in a real hurry and had different armor than other soldiers, focused too, like they had to go do something important. Which, being they were soldiers was probably their constant state, probably some kind of specialized group with special assignments. It was interesting to watch while she ran up to Viidu’s warehouse and ducked inside. He was probably a worried mess, based on his attitude the last few days. She moved up the stairs, taking note that most of the warehouse boys paused to whisper to each other while staring at her. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it probably had to do with the ass kicking she did yesterday… Or… but most of them had been asleep, so they wouldn’t have seen anything. But then again, it was a warehouse, gossip was the central focus here. If one guy passed Corso’s room before they’d woken, well then everyone would know within the hour.

She shook her head and kept moving. She entered the office and was greeted by Viidu with a stabilizing crate. She carefully stepped forward and placed the canister in. stepping back away from it while the crate was sealed, hopefully preventing explosions for the next person to transport it. “This may be the craziest thing I’ve ever done.” 

That earned a laugh from Viidu. He seemed to be a bit more relaxed then he’d been during their last conversation. ‘Guess explosives really do it for him, or it’s the buying more time from Rogun thing’. He stepped away from the crate as well. Even with it stable, seemed he didn’t want to be too close. “I’ll bet you get a lot of free drinks at the Cantina telling this tale.”

“I haven’t paid for a drink I didn’t want to in years, another good story can only help with that.”

“Oh, I’m sure, face like yours, drinks aren’t a problem anywhere.” He turned serious then “Getting those chemicals saved our necks Captain” she was right, buying time had helped with the attitude and worry. They spent a few minutes going over the run and laughing about Trymbo. The man really was a few freighters short of a convoy, and she told Viidu as much. He really had been helpful and accommodating during the whole situation. Maybe when she got her ship back, they could do more business together. Even better, he’d finally gone through the files and found Skavak and he still had her ship and the blasters which was surprising given how long it’d taken to find him, but she wasn’t about to complain. Until he told her where he’d they have to go, The seperatist base. “Those wackos built their headquarters inside an old volcano. Crazy, huh?”

“Of course they did, because now we have to watch the crossfire”

The bitter edge to Corso’s voice was not something she was used to hearing from the surprisingly sweet man with the delightful country drawl. “What do you expect from foaming-at-the-mouth murderers? I wish that volcano would blow its top.” She had to admit she understood the sentiment. If she had the chance to destroy the people who killed her family, hell, she did. They’d killed her cousins, they deserved what they had coming to them. 

Viidu didn’t even acknowledge Corso’s statement, probably having heard similar sentiments before. He simply continued on, explaining all the details that they’d pulled from the files. The delivery schedule, the receiving individual, all the details they had. “When Skavak shows up, you can ambush him, grab your ship and fly back here. Easy.” 

She almost wanted to laugh with relief, she knew where her darling Siren was. All she had to do was pick her up. “I’ll make it look that way, watch ‘cause you’re about to see a real life hero in action.”

He grinned, a real smile, possible the first one she’d seen from him. Not about to die did wonders for people's temperaments. “Make that two heroes. I’m not sending you in alone.” Well, that was good, she could probably handle it. But it would be nice to have some help with the numbers she would be up against. “Take Corso with you, Captain. Kid knows more about blasters and vibroblades than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Knowing about blasters and being able to use one were two different things, but she’d give him a chance if it would get her to the Siren faster. At least she’d get to see how he could fight when he wasn’t knocked on the head. And Corso didn’t seem opposed to the idea. “I owe Skavak payback for taking Torchy. That was lower than low.” 

She had to snort at that. “That’s the Jackal for ya. Didn’t place the name ‘til too late, but low is his domain” She sighed at the prospect of storming a volcano base. She liked adrenaline, but this was a challenge she wasn’t really looking forward to. Too many things could go wrong in a place like that. Cradu, he wouldn’t do something that reckless...But then again Korgran probably would and he’d been the one to teach her most of her combat skills, so she’d be ok. “It’ll be nice to have some backup out there.”

“Glad you think so.” he replied with a low chuckle. 

Viidu reminded them of the plan and sent them off with the promise of a nice bottle of Brandy when they got back. She turned and headed out. She knew how many stims and medpacks she had and she’d stocked up earlier. She pulled out her blasters and quickly checked them over before tucking them back in their holsters. She glanced at Corso next to her “Got what you need?”

He nodded “Don’t you worry about me, Captain. I’m ready.”

“Good, hope you can keep up. I move quick.” with that she set off through the fort at a steady, quick jog. She was getting her ship back and anyone who tried to stop her would pay for their stupidity, especially that banthashit. She’d burn him herself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! any feedback is appreciated. Comments and Kudos feed the muse. To all those who read every chapter, Seriously, I love you and I appreciate every one of you, even if I don't know who you are


	6. Missed Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Storming the Volcano is a three person job and Leikael and Corso just want off planet, first they have to deal with Syreena

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so when I said it'd be like 2 weeks, yeah that didn't end up happening. I had university registration and family stuff and holidays and getting into another dnd group. I'm a year from graduation so I'm making plans and it's all really hard and I don't like it at all.  
> Anyways, here's another chapter, one more and we move on to Coruscant. If you want more of Leikael and Corso, there's a few one-shots in my SWTOR Drabbles series. I have a few sweet prompts I'm working on now.

Corso ran through a mental checklist for probably the fifth time since they’d stepped out of the warehouse and they hadn’t even left the fort yet. It’d surprised him a bit when Viidu said to go with the Captain, not that he would have stayed behind. He wasn’t about to let her go into the main base all on her own, but Viidu had shown a reluctance to sending him along with her, regardless of the danger she would be in. But this was different, and Corso was glad he hadn’t had to go against orders to help Leikael. If he was able to leave the planet with her and get off this rock, he at least wanted to leave on good terms. He’d found a place here, a new family among the inner circle of Viidu’s operation. They’d been there for him and had helped him pull himself together when he’d hit a downward spiral that could have ended badly. Jettison had been teasing him the last two days over his obvious crush on the Captain who’d dropped from nowhere to throw everything off, and he hadn’t been the only one. It didn’t bother him too much, sure it was a bit embarrassing, but he cared about them and knew it was all meant well. He may want to leave the planet, but that didn’t mean he wanted to leave them. 

  
The Captain, he’d gotten too comfortable with her name, he needed to be professional, they were working and focus was needed with how quickly things could change around here, or in a fight. She’d somehow built quite a reputation in the few days she’d been on Ord. Some officer in the army had stopped them and requested that they help with some operation they were running, apparently he was sending a soldier to help his men, but wanted some additional backup for the job. The Captain was quick at arranging a price for the job. Best kind of work, good pay for a good cause. She was good at this work. Still, he was glad to be going with her. Kicking in the Seps door and causing them some problems for once. Maybe they’d think twice next time they marched into someone’s home. It was time for some payback, and if they could help the Republic crush them completely, well all the better. 

  
He still couldn’t believe he’d managed to flirt with the Captain earlier. He’d endured more than the usual teasing that morning. Sure as he thought, Brocko’d spread the word about him in bed with leikael. There were some comments, but he’d managed to shut them down, at least where he could hear them. He didn’t really care what they said about him, and honestly didn’t much care about rumors as long as they didn’t come after her to get payback on the black eyes some were sporting today. But he didn’t want to cause her problems or stain her reputation whatever that may be off-planet. He’d felt flustered most of the day, but had managed to conceal it enough to get through a conversation with her. She’d given him the most brilliant smile when she’d finally accepted Flashy and he was glad the blaster has been taking care of her. The prospect for a good fight was settling to his nerves, at least to some of them. The adrenaline was making him twitchy, but they’d have plenty of fighting to do soon. 

  
He shook off the thoughts and tried to focus. There was more going on than just a pretty girl, stayin’ alive in the mess they were headed to meant he had to keep his head. 

* * *

Leikael finished up the details of the job with the officer, meet his man in the army camp near the volcano and then meet some soldier she was supposed to run the operation with outside the entrance to the base. Nothing too complicated so far, she’d decide if she was going to regret this when they arrived in the camp. At least, working for the army, even freelance, gave her the right to use their speeders which would make this so much faster. She was just about done with this kriffing planet. She was starting to itch, felt a bit like drowning, pushing all the memories back and burying all her emotions so she could work. She needed her ship back, her safe place to crash and her cat to help her deal. She needed to run back to the stars and leave all this banthashit behind. She didn’t need these memories, or useless emotions or the ridiculous distractions of this dustball. “Alright Corso, let’s go fuck up their shit!” she jumped on one of the speeders and glanced over with a grin as Corso settled on another. She couldn’t wait to get her ship back and plant a few blaster bolts in that damned thief's head. 

  
She took off and headed across the island. It didn’t take long to get there on the speeders, and they fell in sync pretty quick. Both focused, she wasn’t sure about Corso’s style in combat and was a little unsure about going into somewhere that was going to be risky with someone she didn’t know, but she’d have to do it sooner or later if she wanted to build a crew and a real smuggling career, and they’d gotten along well so far. She hadn’t had a chance to see him fight yet, but that was mostly due to the whole ‘hit on the head by a friend who was watching his back’ thing. It would work out or she’d be dead, either way it’d be a thrill. 

  
As she approached their contact in the base camp, Sergeant Vandal, she recalled quick enough for a fairly smooth conversation. He clearly didn’t think much of her, that was ok, she enjoyed showing off after all, plus random soldier she’d never see again, not important enough to impress. She was in this for the money and her ship. She got the details of what she needed to do and the meet point for the soldier she was supposed to be going in with. This was going to be weird, due to the nature of her career, she typically avoided working too closely with any of the legal types, but soldiers who were sent into situations like this damned volcano seemed to always carry the big guns, if nothing else, she could use them as a shield for a bit. 

  
Her reputation had clearly reached the planet and spread rapidly since as soon as they reached the meet-point near the entrance to the volcano caves, she was flagged down and brought in on yet another job. ‘Why did everyone think she could solve their problems?’ Damn her too soft heart that couldn’t turn down a request when there were high stakes and lives on the line. She decided to help. She was already killing her way through the damned place, what was one pit stop and a few more shots. She took notice of the individual approaching at the same time Corso did. He quietly signaled to her, making sure that she was aware before the soldier got too close, even though she already knew. It was a solid gesture. They’d worked together well on the short run up the mountain, there’d been a few lookouts but nothing too terrible, but it was still enough for her to know that they synced fairly well. She nodded to the SIS agent and stepped to the edge of the rocks just as the soldier ducked down there as well and she turned to face her, it was time to get to work. 

  
Looking at the soldier was a punch to the gut. The skin tone, her eyes, her hair color even her star-damned nose looked the same. If it hadn’t been for the woman’s hair being styled differently and her tattoos being different than her own, she would have sworn she was looking at a mirror or a clone. There was another idea that occurred briefly, but that one was an impossibility, death is final after all. A breath or two as they stared at each other; Half-frozen in shock at seeing someone they didn’t know wearing their face. The soldier recovered first, “You’re the freelancer, Captain Xuss hired I assume?” 

  
She nodded “Of course, he wanted the best, and I’m the best you’ll find. Mr. SIS has additional things that need done, and I’ve got my own shit in there as well” 

  
The soldier blinked in acknowledgement, “Of course, We’ll hit targets systematically as we move deeper in, leaving the exit for a straight run out. Watch my back and I’ll watch yours.” Leikael glanced at Corso and at his nod, she gave a sharp nod and a wicked smile. The soldier shifted, “No more time, ready?” 

  
“Ready”

  
The three of them quickly moved out of cover and hit the guards around the entrance, dropping them before they could raise an alarm and swept inside. 

  
Working with a soldier was...interesting. She hadn’t worked with someone with this level of combat training and discipline since...Korgran? Even then, he was a mando and the sergeant was pure republic military, probably top of her class in wherever they trained their soldiers. Between the three of them, they cut down anyone stupid enough to get in their waay. It was slow going, slower than she’d like though. Lots of fighting and more than a few close calls. She could feel her leg starting to burn. And she’d taken another hit to her upper arm, along with a few shallow cuts and more than a few bruises. They hit most of the extra stops for Captain Xuss’s operation and got the terrorists list and took them out. She’d laughed at the message she got sent when she reported on that one. He was wondering just who the hell he’d hired who could handle everything the biggest terrorists in the republic threw at her and kill them. He’d hired the best, so that’s what he got. Her and Corso had even covered the sergeant while she did something in some room, they cleared it out and the soldier told them to watch the door while she handled things. They’d even managed to clear out the landing pad, mostly. Everything else would be up to them. 

  
They made it into the depths of the volcano and eventually reached yet another break in the hall. “This is where we split” The sergeant hissed low and quiet, but with a touch of respect. “You’re good with that blaster. Both of you. Be careful and good luck with whatever business brought you.” 

  
Leikael nodded, her heart clenching strangely. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t want the stranger to leave, but it didn’t matter anyways. “You’re pretty decent for a military type. Take care of yourself in there. See ya back in the fort.” She quietly patted the sergeants shoulder and she ducked around the corner with her giant assault cannon held ready.

  
She glances down at the datapad with the information she’d been relying on and back at Corso “Should be just ahead, you ready?

  
He had a dangerous glint in his eyes and she almost shivered at the focus. She’d worry about these obnoxious ‘feelings’ when she was far away from her. He looked at her and a grim smile to match her more fierce one spread across his face. “He took my torchy, and your ship, time to take ‘em all down.” She gave a sharp nod and after stabbing a stim into her thigh and adjusting her grip on her blasters, they stepped away from the wall and continued down the hall and around another corner. 

  
More hallways. More fighters. Corso had been the one asking the important questions from the beginning: “Where’d the Seps get the money to build something like this?” The place was huge! For what were supposed to be a splinter faction of citizens on a random farming/smuggling planet, they were surprisingly well-funded. They’d helped kill a few imperials when helping the sergeant secure the room where she’d done something related to whatever mission she had, but it was only a few. It was likely that they’d only recently gotten involved, having heard of the conflict and deciding to take advantage of it; possibly a rogue faction. The other possibility was too worrying, she refused to even think it. 

  
This area was filled with the best fighters they’d faced so far, but there weren’t as many and there was more cover, corners and walls and crates to duck behind as they made their way, one firefight at a time, towards the meeting place. Flashy sure was getting one hell of a run and was holding up well. She was glad that she’d been able to take the blaster out earlier, the hair trigger took some care to get used to, but it was one hell of a blaster and it was nice to have as they crawled and fought their way through the rooms into one of the deepest parts of the base. Finally… Finally Leikael could see the man Skavak was supposed to meet. This was it. She signaled to Corso and he stepped back to her side as they approached, blasters out, but low. She needed to know how long till Skavak was supposed to be there before she killed this Dareg. His obnoxious monologue annoyed her. Blah, blah crimes against the people of Ord Mantell. She actually rolled her eyes at that. They’d always shot first and she was a person from Ord Mantell. But of course this idiot wouldn’t care about what had happened the last time the empire reached out to this planet. The lives lost and the destruction caused. She could understand the stated motives, but the actions that they’d taken since they started the war, well, she just wanted to shoot the guy. Lucky for her, he had the same mindset and they quickly shot down Dareg and most of his guards. 

  
Getting out was almost as hard as getting in. It didn’t help that she was pissed off and exhausted. Her eyes were burning, her leg throbbing and everything else was hurting too. She wasn’t even able to get her ship. They’d just missed the banthashit. She just wanted to sleep in her own bed again, cuddle her cat, just exist in her own space for awhile. Honestly, she just wanted to sit down and cry for hours and then sleep for a week. Everything that had happened this week, it all just felt like it weighed several tons. She hadn’t even had the energy to talk down Corso when he decided to kill the Sep who told them about Skavak. She understood the desire for vengeance for family. The only thing keeping her going was anger. She’d trusted Syreena, she thought she was her friend. And that woman went and double-crossed her. She was angry and honestly a bit hurt, which really she shouldn’t be. What was the saying, ‘there’s no honor among thieves’ or something like that.

  
As they made it out and stepped into a beautiful mantellian sunset, she was completely drained. She started down towards the path down when She heard Corso behind her “Sergeant!” and suddenly he wasn’t beside her anymore. She turned around to see him catching the sergeant that they’d gone in with as she stumbled down towards her. The poor soldier wasn’t in good shape. There was blood covering one side of her face and that armor was pretty badly damaged, she seemed about to pass out. 

  
Leikael felt her stomach drop in dread. That would be something to think about later. She barely knew the woman. “We need to get you back to base. Corso, can you help her along while I cover us?”   
Corso almost looked insulted, like she had questioned his abilities, which it could have come across as, she wasn’t sure what her tone was. “Of course, Captain. I got her.” Leikael took a deep breath and grabbed her last stim, plunging it into her leg. This wasn’t going to be fun, but it was what it was. She led the way back to the outpost and they were able to convince the sergeant to get a few Kolto injections. Hopefully it’d be enough to keep her from passing out on a speeder. They got loaded up and took off back to the fort. She had a backstabber to confront and she was very very angry about it. 

  
They quickly reached the Fort and helped the sergeant up to the building she said she had to report to. As they reached it, she placed a hand on Leikael’s arm and looked at her and over to Corso “Thank you both for your assistance. The Republic appreciates it...and so do I. I’ve got it from here.”

  
Leikael raised an eyebrow at her “You sure?”

  
The soldier nodded once, sharp and pulling herself straight with a grimace, walked into the building. 

  
The confrontation with Syreena was hard. Pulling the trigger was harder. She could understand the desperation to get off this rock, she really could, but there was no room in this life for second guessing and the only thing she could her was Korgran’s voice. She remembered the first time she’d seen Cradu shoot someone they knew, it was supposed to have been a simple business conversation after a series of bad runs had left half the crew dead or seriously hurt including Garen, Nuri and even Uiki, the pilot. They were getting information and some safe work when everyone was recovered. Instead, Cradu found out that his friend had sold him out and the friend admitted it. Cradu shot him there in the warehouse that he’d insisted they meet at. She could remember being 16 and shaken, even after the gang stuff. She hadn’t expected that from Cradu. As he stood over the body, her _buir_ had placed his hand on her shoulder and taught her a vital lesson she wouldn’t forget. “Sometimes it’s hard, _ad’ika_ , but you leave double-crossers and backstabbers alive, they’ll kill you another day, and your family with you that time. It’ll make you a target for life” She took a breath, and knew what had to be done, for her safety, for Corso’s, she had to do what was necessary, she wasn’t sure why she was considered with Corso’s safety, she’d worry about it later. She pulled the trigger, stripped the passes and looked at Corso. 

  
He wasn’t happy about her killing Syreena.”You ladies sure can be vicious. Hope you don’t ever expect me to shoot a woman.” Ugh. Mantiallian sentimentality. He’d had no trouble shooting the women they’d encountered among the seps in the volcano “I was raised to tip my hat and open doors for ladies, not blast them.”

  
“Well then, you open doors and I’ll handle the blasting. You leave double-crossers alive and they always come back later.”

  
“You probably think I’m some dumb farm boy, huh? Head full of old-fashioned ideas?” He said it like someone who’d been told it before. Thing was, he may be a bit old-fashioned, but he’d been sweet and respectful, for the most part and with the type of men she interacted with regularly, it was… refreshing, at least a little bit. “I don’t think you’re dumb. You’re actually kind of sweet.”  
She almost laughed as he turned a bit sheepish, to his credit he didn’t blush, man could handle a bit of flirting. “Oh, well… thanks, Captain. I like you too.” he glanced over to the body on the ground and just like that the moment was over. He sighed, and she could see the loss weighing on him. “Poor old Viidu. Wish he could hear what we did.” a small headshake as his eyes got sad. “Would’ve put a smile on his face.” another soft sigh. She knew the signs of someone pushing aside their grief “It’s not healthy for us to stick around. I believed what Syreena said about bounty hunters comin’. Pretty standard for Rogun. We don’t know how long Skavak will stay on Coruscant either. Let’s hop a shuttle and catch him while we can.” 

  
That was unexpected. She’d been expecting a goodbye, maybe a ‘wish I could go with you. Good luck’, but actually planning to leave, not even taking time to think about it. That wasn’t planned. “You’re planning to tag along?”

  
“I’m not bailing on you now, Captain. Besides, my torchy still needs rescuing.” Of course, she’d forgotten about the blaster in the face of the STOLEN STARSHIP, but it probably mattered to him, so whatever, a little backup for the ass-kicking Skavak had coming, she could live with that. “Viidu left me some stuff. I expect he’d want me to share it with you. He liked you, though he might have liked anyone who could help him then.” 

  
Leaving didn’t take long, Corso only ended up having a few bags of stuff plus a few boxes for his blaster collection. Nothing that weighed them down too much and they could always come back when they got the Siren back. Corso also made some calls and arranged to have all the bodies buried. Apparently, there was a pretty quick process and Corso seemed like he couldn’t get out quick enough. She didn’t blame him. Losing his family and then his friends, they’d found a few more bodies after, well, that was tough for anybody and it made his decision make more sense. It didn’t take too long and they were headed to the shuttle port, their shuttle would head out to the republic fleet and then another ship down to Coruscant. 

  
Unfortunately, their shuttle was delayed and moved to another dock and as they turned to go back to that dock. The shuttle in the one that they’d been told to go to, had it’s passengers disembark and took off again. The two passengers happened to be Rogun’s bounty hunters and of course, they wouldn’t just leave. She didn’t have the money to buy them off. Though, the fact that they could have been bought off indicated a lower class of bounty hunters, at least that’s what Nats had said and it was her profession. The delay was unnecessary and irritating. 

  
She was so damned tired, the artificial high and the painkillers from the stims were fading and the adrenaline from the warehouse and even the fight was gone and by the time they were allowed to board, she collapsed in a seat and stared at the floor, mostly focused on simply staying upright. She barely noticed the other passengers loading onto the shuttle. Civilians, a few shifty people that seemed SIS maybe? A couple of soldiers in the Mantiallian uniforms and two others wearing heavier armor. An angry looking Cathar and the sergeant that she’d helped out. The sergeant stepped out of sight, heading somewhere the rest of the passengers weren’t allowed to go. She could probably come up with the word in a minute.

  
She was still thinking of the word for that area of the shuttle when a small disposable bottle was shoved in her hands alongside some small packets of crackers, she glanced up to see Corso holding the same as he settled next to her. “Saw you stim. You need it. Eat.” He was right. 

* * *

Corso quickly finished off his crackers and juice, it wasn’t much of a meal, especially after what they’d been through, but it was only a few hours to the station and the ship to Carrick Station would have more food for them. He paid attention to Leikael as she gulped down the juice and started on the crackers. Making sure she stayed healthy was a good way to push aside the loss of Viidu and the others. Besides, using three stims within a couple hours of each other wasn’t exactly good for you. Her injuries must not have healed up as much as he’d thought. She’d been limpin’ bad when they’d boarded. He stood and gently pried the trash from her exhausted hands and dumped in into the recycle unit, before settling down next to her again and stretching out just a bit for the trip.   
It wasn’t a handful of minutes later when a weight gently hit his shoulder. He glanced over and saw that Leikael had fallen asleep and tipped against his shoulder, well there were worse ways to spend the next few hours. He wrapped his arm around her and shifted a bit to a more comfortable position and rested his head against the wall. Glancing around he saw a few familiar faces, including an officer from the Fort, looking furious. He’d ran into the Cathar, a leutianant last he’d heard, a few times, Jorgan or Gorgran, something like that. You didn’t work in a Fort the size of Garnik for years and not learn the faces of those who stayed there, but he’d never seen the man look as angry as he did now. Must not have had a good day.

  
The soldier noticed him, and after clearly recognizing him and glancing at the woman currently sleeping against him, even though they’d only just taken off, gave an angry half nod of acknowledgment and returned to staring at the wall of the shuttle like he wanted to break something. Well, he was not going to bother a soldier that angry, it’d probably be a quick way to die. Corso tipped his head back and let the day catch up with him as he finally was able to drift off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope everyone reading this are enjoying it, I know I have fun writing it. Leikael is a greedy mischievous troublemaker with a heart of gold and low tolerance for bullshit. I can't wait to get to some fun scenes I have planned for later planets, like a party, and fancy dresses and jewel heists and camping and Leikael's apartment and some other stuff  
> Also if you want more random swtor stuff and character details and early glimpses of what I'm working on see my tumblr, shabre-legacy (I can't figure out how to link in notes so sorry about that), please


	7. Esseles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally on their way to Coruscant, Leikael and Corso encounter yet more difficulties. Doesn't anyone understand that this poor smuggler isn't actually a soldier. She just wants her ship back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it. The last chapter in this story. Leikael's story will continue on Coruscant with the next story in the series. I hope you like it. This chapter is a bit shorter than the others. Life got busy and chaotic and very distracting pretty quickly.

Carrick Station was a bustling hub, it wasn’t her favorite place. Too many security forces and soldiers around to be comfortable, but it wasn’t the worst place to hang out for a few. They’d arrived and Corso had helped her to the med-center on the station, in and out with a bit of Kolto. The station had several large rooms full of bunks for people to crash on for those with long waits. Something resembling a bed was nice for her injured leg, even if she wasn’t really able to rest easily with the openness of the station and how many strangers were around. Still, a few hours rest and she felt, physically, good as new. 

  
Stretching, she stuffed her feet back into her boots and ran her fingers through her hair a few times before pulling it up and dragging herself down into the station cantina. Luckily, she didn’t have to spend much time searching for her traveling companion. Not that she’d look for him. She told herself, she didn’t care; if he got left behind, that was his own problem, she didn’t care. She sat down heavily across from him and waved over the serving droid. Luckily, it was quick on bringing over caf and she finally started feeling a bit more like herself. She looked over at Corso finishing up his breakfast and sighed. “Got another 2 hours before we’re needed aboard the ship. Figure we’ve got enough time to pick up supplies before we go and smash Skavak’s face in.” 

  
“Sounds good.” Her food arrived and she ate quickly, going over the short list of things they needed to pick up and didn’t want to wait until they reached Coruscant. Only a few minutes later, and she settled their tab and brought the to go cup of caf she’d bought extra over to Corso, they’d hadn’t had as much rest as she’d like and they needed to stay alert ‘til they could get off the station.   
He was leaning against the wall looking up at the walkway that led around the station and to the Coruscant departures bay with a big smile, he looked excited in a way she hadn’t seen on the man before. She liked that smile, almost too much. He turned that grin to her as he accepted the mug. “This is the best feeling…” He glanced back at the walkway and back to her “A sky full of stars… A new planet waiting across the galaxy… It never gets old.” She could feel the excitement and strangely something almost like contentment spreading from him.

Most of her people had a low level of force sensitivity, not enough to be Jedi, just enough to sense it vaguely and sometimes get a feel for emotions from those around them, or the residue emotions left behind in some places. What she could sense was close to the same emotions she got from traveling. Not exactly the same, but there was some overlap. And. The farmboy had traveled? That wasn’t something she’d expected. she ‘d have to ask about that later if they ended up stuck together for much longer. She had to grin at him though, she shared his thoughts on space. “Why do you think I never settle down. There’s nothing better than open space, it’s endless possibilities wrapped in a cloak of stunning lights.” 

  
“There’s something about cities, all plastisteel and concrete. Weighs too much to ever feel free.” He paused for a moment looking more serious than he had before and looked right in her eyes. “When I came back to Ord Mantell, I thought that was the end for me. Thanks for giving me a way off.” 

  
She was a little taken aback by that. Kael wasn’t used to people thanking her for things that didn’t involve other people shooting at her. Hadn’t really happened since she’d left the Lady. “Umm, you’re welcome, I guess. Though it was more a matter of circumstance than anything I did. Besides you’re helping me out still, so everything evens out.” She shifted and looked up at the stairs out of the Cantina. “Let’s get this shopping done so we can hit the hyperlanes faster.” 

  
He nodded and gestured up the stairs, with that stupid smile he seemed to wear around her, maybe it was an all the time thing, she didn’t know. “Right behind ya” 

* * *

  
A couple hours found them heading through the airlock to the ship Syreena had booked. Two passes on a luxury ship, it was real nice. Leikael hadn’t really ever been on one like it. Her experience was limited to the imps military shuttles and command ships, and smugglers ships, luxury ships like this were not part of her experience, at least not as a passenger. The main passenger area had a huge bar and multiple sabacc tables surrounded by what looked like a bunch of rich idiots who’d lose all their money easily. Perfect place to make some credits while relaxing for a couple hours. The two wandered through the ship to the cabin listed on their passes. And promptly realized that maybe they should have exchanged them. A large cabin with a private ‘fresher and one big bed. Syreena had booked a room for her and Skavak who she’d thought she was in a relationship with. They should have remembered that. Too late now.

Leikael sighed and shrugged her pack to the ground. The trip was only about 20 hours by starship usually, but a ship like this would be slow, probably a little over a day. “Well, I guess we know what Syreena was planning.” She stepped over and dropped her blasters on a desk tucked against a wall on one side. “I call first dibs on the shower.” She grabbed what things she had and disappeared. She’d been lucky to be able to shower as frequently as she had here. She was fairly certain that too soon she’d be stuck without showers for at least a bit while she tracked down Skavak and got caught up on all the work she’d missed. She was going to take advantage of it while she could. 

The two of them headed back out when they felt the ship start to depart the station. They had a bit of time to go before the ship could jump to hyperspace. A round of drinks and they were wandering. They hadn’t addressed the sleeping arrangements and she was going to put that off as long as possible. Right now, she wanted to get a feel for the tables before she sat to play and Corso had found someone who he seemed to be having an interesting conversation with, probably someone from Ord, there seemed to be a few of them around. 

  
It was nice to get some downtime, the warning about dangerous territory probably meant pirates. They were fairly deep in Republic territory after all. Apparently, word of her skills, at least as a pilot had made their way through those leaving Ord on this ship, at least according to the Twi’lek woman who stopped her while she was wandering closer to one of the games. It nearly made her grin, knowing that people were talking about her. She was the best and it was past time she made sure everyone knew that. This could be a good start. ‘Wait what had the woman asked her, if the ships crew had spoken to her?’ “I don’t normally do civilian transport, but I could definitely get this hunk of metal to Coruscant faster.” Seemed like they were crawling through space, it was starting to bother her, just hit hyperspace already, her ship was waiting for her. 

  
The woman speaking to her was clearly concerned about something and she really didn’t feel like waiting around. She was about to leave, when the other woman finally caught her full attention. “I heard a rumor that there’s an imperial warship following us.”

  
Well, shit. That was the last thing Kael needed. She looked over and caught Corso’s eye, tilting her head slightly to call him to her. The man had some skill, he’d shown that back on Ord and if there were imps following, well, Kael wanted back up that she could mostly trust. “There’s nothing wrong with looking over your shoulder once in a while. Keeps ya alive.”

  
“Good to hear I’m not the only one concerned about the imperials” Corso approached in time to hear that and immediately looked concerned, raising a eyebrow in question.

  
Unlike this woman, Kael wasn’t worried about the imps. They wouldn’t take her in alive anyways, so what was there to be scared of? “If the imps want a fight, we’ll give ‘em one.” She snapped out quickly. A hint of her old accent slipping out again as it tended to when she talked quick, or got angry, or tired, or drunk, and right now, she was a bit tipsy and angry at even the thought of imps setting a single foot on a ship she was on. She’d shoot them all down before she let them capture her or anyone else.

  
And the woman barely had a chance to respond before the ship shook. Kael knew, she felt it, all hell had just broken loose on this damned ship and of course she was going to have to be the one to put it all back together. She looked to Corso and raised her brow? “You ready to kick imperial ass?” the silent question being asked. And at his nod, they turned and took off towards the bridge. They’d need a good pilot or some extra blasters. Either way, she wasn’t letting this ship fall into their hands, not while she was on it. She’d sworn on Nar Shaddaa, she’d never be under imperial control again. Ever. Not after 7 years in that hellscape. She wasn’t much for promises, but this was one she’d never break 

* * *

  
It was probably only a few hours later, but it felt like days, when Leikael and Corso finally staggered back into the main room as the ship finally flew through hyperspace. They were still a few hours out from Coruscant, but at least the ship was finally headed there and couldn’t be stopped by the imps again. The ambassador was safe, the crew mostly okay and the engineers already making repairs. They dropped into some of the chairs by the bar and the bartender had drinks in their hands before they even asked. Clearly the good will from the bridge crew extended down here. Leikael just wanted to rest. Her head fell forward and rested on the bar, keeping upright was too much effort, she just couldn’t right now, too damned tired. 

  
Fighting battle droids and storming imperial warships was not part of her career path. She was a smuggler, getting cargo in and out, that was her skill set. This shit. This was soldier shit. Why had she gotten mixed up in it. She drained her second whiskey and before another could be poured, she asked for the bottle and told Corso she was going to the room. He came with her, seeming to have the same need to be away from the people, who now that they were safe just wanted all the details and had so many questions, and cheers and thanks. 

  
She just wanted to rest. Fighting through the ship, the trek through the sewers, the damned Sith she took out, that one specifically was unsettling and she just wanted to drink in quiet. She wasn’t cut out to play soldier, she just wanted her damn ship. Was this going to be her life now? Going into places no one else could and doing things that people wouldn’t ask soldiers in their armor with their heavy weapons to do. Did no one realize that maybe asking the person who carried blaster pistols and armor was mostly just thick jackets to handle these thing was a bad idea. She was so damned tired and it’d only been a few hours since they’d boarded, well rested and ready to take the passengers for all the credits they could be persuaded to bet. 

  
The two of them seemed to understand each other as they dropped blasters, boots, jackets and collapsed across the bed finally able to wear comfortable clothes as they passed the bottle, settling in silence and processing the days events as the blurred lines of stars whirled by outside the ship and they got closer to their destination. And inside the cabin the two weary, and shaken, ‘heroes of the day’, gradually drifted off. Lured to sleep with the exhaustion and false relaxation of the drink, safely tucked next to each other and wrapped in a blanket of stars 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading. any feedback is appreciated as always. I'm hoping to get the first chapter of Coruscant up sometime over the upcoming break, but I make no promises, university is a bit chaotic. Thanks for sticking with me as I made my way through this story and I hope you enjoy what I have planned for Leikael in the future.

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks for reading.


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